kissed you once, now i can't leave (everything you do is magic)

Summary:

There’s a war going on right outside Hogwarts walls, there are people that want to kill her friends for what runs through their veins, but right now, all Harry can think about is the warmth of Louis’ fingers tangled with hers, and nothing else really matters much.

or, a Girl Direction Hogwarts AU, set during the first War in the Wizarding World.

Notes:

Work Text:

Louis sneaks into the sixth year Ravenclaw dorm most nights, wiggling her cold feet into Harry's pyjama pants, and pressing them against her legs. Their hands link together, and Harry doesn't think she could fall asleep without the sound of Louis' heartbeat matching her own. Her dreams are filled with death, and flashes of green light, and forbidden names, and Harry thinks about Zayn, with Muggle blood pumping through her veins, sleeping in the bed across from hers, thinks of loud and out-spoken Niall, who fights for everyone to have the same rights as she does, thinks of Liam, who had to unlearn a lot of things that her Pure-Blood parents had taught her, and is now one of the bravest people Harry knows. She thinks of Louis, curled up next to her, who comes from a large Pure-Blood family, who has just as much to lose as Harry, who risks everything just by simply holding Harry's hand at breakfast.

"I'm scared," Harry whispers, around three A.M. She knows from Louis' uneven breathing that she's awake.

Louis sighs, and cuddles in closer to her. "I know," she says, because they're sixteen now, almost seventeen, almost of legal age, and lies, while comforting, don't really help anyone anymore.

"Mum wrote this morning- Gemma was turned down for the secretary position in the Ministry. The girl that got it was a Gryffindor, here, a year older than Gemma. She only got A’s on her final exams, and even one D, but she was-"

"A Pure-Blood," Louis finishes, sighing. "Haz, I'm so sorry, I know she really wanted that job." Harry shrugs, and Louis gives her tiny little butterfly kisses with her eyelashes. Harry feels her cheeks heat up, even after three years of receiving them.

"It's okay, she's used to it by now," Harry says, softly, and Louis sighs again.

"Shouldn't have to be, is the point," Louis reminds her, and Harry's quiet, for a moment. "What's wrong, Hazza?"

Harry bites her lip. "Lou, what if- what if this just doesn't end? Ever? Or- worse, what if it does end, and we lose? I- I can't prove that I've got magic blood, not since dad ran off, and Gemma's already being turned down for jobs even though she's saying she's a Half-Blood, not a Muggle-Born, which is what we're apparently meant to say, and there's you, and Niall, who are going to be considered just as bad as Zayn and me, if we lose this war, and-"

Louis kisses Harry to shut her up. "Harry, you can't do this to yourself, not again, not when we've got Herbology first thing in the morning. Hazza- everything will be okay, I promise," Louis tells her, and Harry knows she's lying, knows it just as well as she knows that in the bed across from them, Zayn's lying awake, listening to this, and trying to convince herself that Louis is right. So she decides to do the only thing she can do; lie.

"You're right," she whispers, loud enough that she knows her voice will carry over to Zayn. "You're always right, Louis."

Louis smiles at her smugly, before kissing her gently. "Now get some sleep baby," she says, and Harry feels her eyes flutter shut without her permission.

There's a war going on right outside Hogwarts walls, there are people that want to kill her and her friends for what runs through their veins, but right now, all Harry can think about is the warmth of Louis' fingers tangled with hers, and nothing else really matters much.

*

(She'd been in Transfiguration when she met Louis for the first time. Professor McGonagall turned into a cat right in front of them, and Louis was so surprised that she fell off her chair and went tumbling down onto the ground. When she picked herself up a moment later, brushing dirt off her new uniform, she loudly proclaimed that that was the absolute coolest thing I've ever seen in my whole life, when can do you teach us to become cats? Her blue eyes were wide with excitement and it took Harry less than half a second to fall in love.

After Professor McGonagall turned back to herself, she fixed Louis with a look that Harry somehow knew she'd grow intensely familiar with over the next seven years.

"Miss Tomlinson," the Professor scolded, frowning. Harry, all of eleven, and terrified, cowered in her chair, even though McGonagall wasn't giving her the disapproving look, yet Louis' grin didn't waver.

"Professor Slughorn is certainly going to have his hands full for the next seven years," Professor McGonagall eventually remarked, and Louis laughed loudly as she nodded her head in agreement.

Harry spent the rest of the lesson trying to turn a needle into a matchstick, while sitting next to a quiet girl with long black hair. Zayn was quiet, then, and blushed a bright red every time Harry talked to her, but she was nice enough anyway, and Dusty, curled up in Harry's robe pocket, seemed to like her, which was what eventually convinced Harry to warm up to her; even then, her cat had an amazing sense of judgement. At the end of the lesson, Harry packed up her books, slipped her wand in her robe pocket, and headed for the door. Before she reached it, Louis popped up in front of her.

"Hiya," she chirped, and Harry dropped her bag right on Louis's feet.

"Oops," she responded, and Louis just laughed.

"No harm done," she said. "Mum bought me new shoes for school, so they're very good, and hard and all that,” she added, reaching down to hand Harry’s bag back to her. “You're Harry Styles right? In Ravenclaw?"

Harry blinked, and looked down at her blue and bronze tie, just to be sure. "Yes, Ravenclaw, Harry Styles, that's me," she babbled, and Louis laughed again.

"I'm Louis Tomlinson," she introduced, a smile stretched across her cheeks. "I wanted to say hello, because I know your sister Gemma, since she's in my house- which, of course, you'd know, since she's your sister, and all- but she came over to me in our common room last night, because I was practicing a spell, and it went wrong, and um, well, there was a lot of pink glitter involved, but- well, that part isn't important, but she helped me fix it and even got most of the glitter out of my hair, and told me she thought we- you and me, that’s the ‘we’- would get along and everything, so here I am, trying to get along. With you, I mean, not her, although I do get along with her quite nicely, I think. She let me eat the rest of her pumpkin pie at dessert last night anyway, so there's that."

Harry blinked again, and Louis sighed. "I came on too strong again didn't I?" she asked, and Harry smiled softly at her.

"I liked it, I think," she replied, and Louis beamed at her in response.)

*

When Niall comes bounding up to them at lunch, Zayn sighs.

"You know you're meant to sit with your own house," she reminds Niall, who cheerfully ignores her as she squeezes in between Harry and Zayn, and steals some of Jade's pumpkin juice.

Jade scowls at her. "You realise there's a full jug of pumpkin juice literally right in front of you?" she says, stealing her glass back from Niall, who just grins; her upper lip is stained orange and Harry gently leans over to wipe it away, forever the mother of their little group.

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't have gotten to see your pretty smile," Niall teases, and Jade rolls her eyes, before standing up.

"I've got to meet Pez, I'll see you last period, in Divination," she says to Harry, sticking her tongue out at Niall before heading to the Gryffindor table. Zayn perks up at the sound of Perrie's name, and her eyes follow Jade as she walks across the Hall, until they land on Perrie, and she sighs so loudly that Harry growls at her.

"God, you two are pathetic," she grumbles, and Niall looks offended. Zayn's still staring at Perrie, and clearly isn't listening, so Harry licks her finger and sticks it in Zayn's ear. An appropriate response, considering, but Zayn swears for about a minute straight, and then pointedly does not look at Harry as she keeps eating. "Seriously," Harry continues. "Niall, we all know you're into Jade, just ask her out so we can all move on with our lives, please."

Niall sighs, and stares sadly at the pumpkin juice Jade left behind. "I'm trying," she protests, and Harry feels her face crumple. She understands pining, is the thing. She'd realised she was properly in love with Louis in third year and had to wait an entire term before either of them had made a move.

"I know," Harry says, pulling her into a cuddle. "Maybe you need to tone it down with the food-stealing thing," Harry suggests, and Niall frowns.

"But that's how I show affection!" she argues, and Zayn snaps back into attention.

"We've talked about this Nialler, stealing a girl’s food is not a way to steal their hearts," she drawls, and really, Harry doesn't know why everyone thinks Zayn's the creative, insightful one, when all she can come up with is stupid stuff like that.

Harry rolls her eyes. "Yeah, like you're one to talk," she scoffs, and Zayn frowns.

"What's that meant to mean?" she snaps, her lips pulling downwards into a frown. Harry thinks it's her eyes, probably, that cause people to think she's smarter than she is. She's got smart eyes, but that's about it, most days.

Niall giggles behind her hands as Harry sighs. "It means that you're not as sneaky as you try to be with Perrie," she says, raising an eyebrow. She'll have to remember to thank Gemma for teaching her that trick; it works wonders when Liam and Louis have gotten up to something naughty. Which is every day, mostly.

Zayn doesn't falter under Harry's eyebrow, which is unfortunate, but Harry has other tricks up her sleeves if need be. "There's nothing going on with me and Perrie," Zayn tells her.

"I know," Harry huffs. "That's the problem," she continues, and Niall laughs again. "You're so busy staring at her all day that you've not got time to, oh, I don't know, ask her out," she says, and Zayn fixes her with a glare that rivals Professor McGonagall's. Harry's extremely proud of herself for not cowering in her seat.

"Right, because it's not like you haven't stopped staring at Louis all of bloody lunch," Zayn spits out, and Harry rolls her eyes again.

"Right, but the difference there is that, even if I stare at Louis during lunch, I'm probably going to be making out with her in a closet somewhere after dinner, so it's a bit different, wouldn't you think?" Niall nods her head in agreement, and Zayn blows out a breath of angry air, blowing hair off of her face.

"Whatever, I'm going to Arithmancy," Zayn says, storming off. Niall watches after her with worried eyes, and turns to Harry, slapping her on the arm.

"That was mean!" she accuses, and Harry rolls her eyes. Sometimes it feels like they'll just roll right out of her head, hanging around with Zayn and Niall.

"She's got Arithmancy with Liam, and we all know that the one thing Liam's good for is cheering her up," Harry jokes, and Niall laughs again. "Seriously though, she needs a push, this is getting ridiculous. Last week, we had Defence, with the Gryffindors, and Zayn somehow managed to turn me into a penguin instead of disarming me, because she was too busy watching Perrie disarm Liam!"

Niall erupts into laughter, and Harry scowls. "Sorry, sorry, that's just- better than when Liam accidentally turned Louis pink for a week," she says through her giggles, and Harry laughs as well, because that was extremely funny. Especially since pink is Louis' least favourite colour.

"Anyway," Harry says, pointedly, and Niall tries to contain herself. "Jesy and I agreed that we'd both work on it- I have to convince Zayn to make the move, and she's gotta convince Perrie to actually like, accept, and all."

Niall sighs. "I don't know which one of you have the hardest job, but I don't envy either of you, that’s for sure," she says.

Harry frowns, and sneaks a glance at Louis, over on the Slytherin table, sitting with Jesy and Eleanor. Jesy rolls her eyes in the direction of the doors, where Perrie and Jade had left through only minutes before, Zayn following not long after, and Harry makes an overly exaggerated silly face, which causes Jesy to giggle. Louis, noticing Harry's gaze on her, smiles softly in her direction, and nods her head towards the door. "Sorry Niall, I gotta go," Harry says, standing up. Niall shrugs, and sets to work finishing off Harry's lunch.

"Study group in the library after dinner?" she asks, and Harry nods her head in confirmation. "See'ya then," Niall says, through a mouthful of pie.

Louis reaches for her hand when they meet at the door, and Harry sighs happily when their fingers link together. "Missed you," she mumbles, smiling softly at Louis, who gently rolls her eyes.

"You saw me like, three hours ago," she jokes, and Harry sticks her tongue out at her.

"Three hours too long," she tells her, and Louis leans over to kiss her cheek softly.

"Did you do the Care of Magical Creatures homework?" she asks, and Harry nods, fumbling through her bag for her essay. Louis hums when Harry hands it to her, and after quickly reading through it, she sighs, and pulls her quill out of her pocket.

"Spelling mistakes?" Harry asks sadly, halting to a stop so Louis can use her back as a desk of sorts, and Louis nods, using her wand to disappear some words, before leaning the parchment on Harry's back, and writing them in correctly.

"I think I'll get you one of those spelled quills for your birthday this year," Louis muses, as Harry pouts. "They fix up all your spelling and grammar for you, so I wouldn't have to."

Harry scowls, and kicks a rock on the ground in protest. "You don't have to," she retorts, and Louis smiles indulgently at her, her eyes soft.

"Of course I don't have to Haz, I just like to. You help me with my Astronomy after all," Louis reminds her, and Harry sighs.

"That's only because you have shit eye-sight, and refuse to wear your glasses, which you need, you know, to actually see the stars," Harry replies, and Louis frowns.

"Harry," she begins, giving Harry the look. "You've seen the glasses my mum sent me, right?" Harry nods, and Louis clucks her tongue. "Then you understand exactly why I refuse to wear them."

Harry shakes her head. "I think they make you look cute," she argues, and Louis sighs, handing Harry back her corrected essay.

"Your vision is impaired," Harry fires back, and it’s admittedly not her best comeback, but Louis laughs anyway, like the supportive girlfriend she is.

"I love you," she says, and after shoving her essay back in her bag, Harry links their hands together again.

"Love you too," she replies, and Louis' answering smile is brighter than the sun.

*

(The first time they'd kissed, there had actually been honest to God sparks. They were in the kitchens, during a Hufflepuff v. Gryffindor Quidditch match in third year- back before Louis was made captain of the Slytherin team and went to every single match, frantically taking notes about the players’ techniques- drinking some hot chocolate the elves had made them.

"You've got a chocolate moustache," Louis had told Harry, giggling. Harry blushed a bright pink, and reached her hand up to wipe it away, but Louis stopped her. "I'll get it," she said, and her hand on Harry's was trembling. Harry's heart stopped in her chest, and her breath caught in her throat, and Louis leaned in, slowly, eyes closed. Her lips tasted of chocolate, and magic, and late nights spending in the library, hands knocking into each other every couple of minutes, and shared looks across the Great Hall during lunch, and home.

"I've been wanting to do that for a while," Louis said, after. Their foreheads were leaning against each other, and Louis' breath was hot on Harry's face. Harry blushed again, and kissed her cheek softly in response.

"I've been wanting to do that since we first met, probably," she replied, and then hissed in pain when something hot landed on her cheek.

Louis looked up in amazement, before falling into a fit of giggles. "Oh my god," she laughed. "We literally made sparks appear when we kissed Haz, Merlin," she said, giggling. Harry, utterly, completely, hopelessly in love by that point, laughed along before kissing her again.)

*

On a Tuesday, Niall's older brother dies. Harry's watching her across the hall, from where Niall's eating lunch at the Gryffindor table, with Liam and Perrie, when Professor Sprout walks up to her, the look on her face pained.

"Oh no," Zayn whispers, from next to Harry, when Sprout pulls Niall away, and out of the Great Hall. These days, kids only left the Great Hall with their Head of House when a family member has been killed, and since Niall had already lost both her parents to the war before she'd come to Hogwarts, Harry knows instantly what had happened to Greg.

"He was a part of that special group that Dumbledore's leading," Jade says quietly. "The one that's fighting You-Know-Who," she adds on, wiping a tear from her cheek. "I met him over the summer hols, when he dropped Niall at my house for lunch one day. He was really nice."

Harry feels numb, like the ice that's been sitting in her chest ever since this war began has finally begun to freeze the rest of her. "He used to make sure he made my meals with Halal meat, when I went for dinner," Zayn says, frowning. "He was all Niall had left," she continues, her voice catching.

"You're wrong, as usual, Malik," Louis chirps, squeezing herself on the bench in between Harry and Zayn. Jesy stands behind Harry, rubbing her back slowly as Harry tries to remember how to breathe. "She's got us, all of us. She'll get through this, because we'll be right there for her."

"Louis is right," Liam adds in, popping up behind Jade, with Perrie next to her. Perrie instantly plops herself down in Jade’s lap, sipping at her hot chocolate, and cuddling into her, looking like a lost puppy. Jade brushes her fingers through Perrie’s hair, and as a sure sign of how serious the moment is, she doesn’t even tell Perrie off for stealing her drink. "We'll get Leigh-Anne and Sophia to let us into the Hufflepuff common room tonight, and we can make sure she's alright," Liam suggests.

"Big group sleepover, that'll be nice for her," Zayn agrees, her voice quiet. "Hazza, you alright?" she asks, and the girls all turn to look at Harry, who gulps in a big breath of air.

"I didn't tell you," she says, gasping the words out. She's looking at Louis, and everyone's looking at her. "I- Gemma told me, over the holidays, that Dumbledore asked her to join the same group as Greg. She wasn't meant to tell me, but she said- she wanted me to know, just in case- Louis, what if she's next? I can't- everyone's losing people, I can't lose her- I can't-"

"Breathe, Hazza, breathe," Louis says, wrapping her fingers around Harry's. "Merlin, Harry, you can't keep these things to yourself, you know that secrets give you ulcers," Louis reprimands, forcing her to drink some water.

"You can't think this way Harry, it's not going to do any good," Liam tells her, and Louis nods her agreement. "Gemma is perfectly capable of looking after herself Harry, we all know that. She was a prefect when she was here, after all, and she had straight O's on her OWL's for Defence."

"Don't you think I don't know all of that?" Harry snaps, her eyes filling with tears. "But Greg was plenty capable too, and so were all the other witches and wizards that died before him- this war isn't about capability, Liam, it's-" she breaks off, her chest finally giving into the pressure, and there's no air in her lungs, like her body has forgotten how to breathe in, and she's gasping, gasping for air that she just isn't getting, and Jesy is hitting her back, and Louis is rubbing her hands, and Perrie is throwing water in her face, and then-

*

(The Ravenclaws and Slytherins were paired up for flying lessons in first year, and Louis' broom instantly shot in her hand when she commanded it, up. Harry forcefully said the word, but her broom just hovered pathetically above the ground for a few seconds before falling back down. Zayn, next to her, with her broom already in her hand, snickered, and one of the Slytherin girls, Eleanor, had shared a frustrated glance with Harry, as her broom remained firmly on the ground as well.

"They can smell fear you know," Louis said, popping up next to her. "Like dogs."

Harry peered at her curiously, still in the process of trying to figure out what exactly Louis Tomlinson was. "Do you have Veela blood in you, by any chance?"

Louis considered this, for a moment. "I think I only had Troll blood with my toast this morning, but I could be wrong," she replied, before she dropped her broom to the ground, and stepped closer to Harry. "Like this," she said, as she gently guided Harry's hand above the broom. "You have to be forceful, and stay steady."

Harry nodded her head, and stretched her fingers out as she held her palm steady like Louis had demonstrated. "Up," she commanded, and the broom appeared to consider this for a moment, before it finally shot up into her hand. Harry's fingers clasped around the broom, and Louis' finger clasped around hers.

Louis beamed at her. "Just like that! Perfect," she praised, and Harry blanched.

"But now I have to actually fly it!" she said, a scowl on her face. Louis giggled.

"I'll catch you when you fall," she promised, and Harry had felt her cheeks heat up. Harry managed to fall after only forty seconds of hovering above the ground, and true to her word, Louis caught her before they both went tumbling to the ground, much like the first time Harry had seen her. Jade giggled as Harry picked the grass out of Louis' hair, and called them monkeys, but Louis walked Harry to her common room afterwards, and they had held hands on the way there, so Harry felt like the embarrassment was totally worth it, really.)

*

When Harry wakes, it's to the familiar ceiling of the sixth year Ravenclaw dormitory above her, and the familiar feel of Louis' body lying next to hers. "How're you feeling?" Louis asks her, softly, putting her Potions text book on Harry’s bedside table. She hands Harry a glass of water, and Harry sips it slowly before answering.

"Better," she mumbles, shuffling around until she's wrapped in Louis' arms. "What happened after I passed out?"

Louis shrugs, running her fingers through Harry's hair. "Not much; Zayn freaked out, as usual. Liam demanded that we take you to the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey just gave me another brew of your anxiety potion for the next month, and Jade helped me levitate you back here." Harry nods, and Louis sighs. "Hazza, you've got to tell us when you start feeling all anxious like this; you know you have to take your potion when you feel attacks coming on, and you know that you can't keep your worries to yourself without letting them destroy you."

"Harry Styles, you could never bother me," she tells her. "You mean everything to me babe, I'm always here to listen to your worries, no matter how insignificant you think they are." She pauses for a moment, and then sighs. "Of course, none of your worries are insignificant, lately."

"Gem's my best friend," Harry whispers. "I'm so scared for her, every day, and there's nothing I can do about it." Louis looks a little bit overwhelmed, and Harry thinks about Lottie, who was just sorted into Slytherin this year, of Fizzy, who is counting down until she can come to Hogwarts in two years, of Daisy and Phoebe, and how quiet their 5th birthday party was, with just their sisters and Harry there to play with them after Jay received stilted apologies from their Pure-Blood friends declining their invitation, after she decided that it was too dangerous to invite their Muggle friends over. Louis is just as scared as Harry is, has just as much love for her sisters as Harry has for Gemma, and yet she never lets Harry see her worry; she’s so strong, and Harry feels pitiful when she compares herself to Louis.

"You have to trust that Gemma knows how to take care of herself," Louis eventually says. "Just like I have to trust that Mum can look after my sisters, and my sisters can look after my mum." Harry leans up and brushes her lips across Louis', who kisses back eagerly, before pulling away with a sigh. "As much as I would love to go further with you right now, I think you need to go have some dinner; keep your strength up and all."

Outside of the curtains around her bed, Harry hears a loud scoff. "Well I'm definitely not," Jade tells her, and Louis giggles even as Harry rolls her eyes.

Harry pulls open her curtains and sticks her head out, glaring at Jade. "You know, I kept my mouth shut when you had that Gryffindor boy up here last week, you think you could offer me the same courtesy," she tells her, and Jade reddens slightly, before she rolls her eyes.

"I've put up with you and Tommo and your weird sex habits for the last two years, Styles, I doubt hearing me having boring missionary sex would really offend your delicate sensibilities," Jade drawls, and Harry scowls.

"You're just jealous that our sex is so fun," Louis teases, poking her head out the curtains alongside Harry. Harry's scowl lifts upwards into a smile and Jade just rolls her eyes again.

"I've got a date Thursday night, can you two wait until then?" she pleads, and Harry sighs. "I'll even figure out a way to get Zayn out of here, and it's not like Ainsley or Becka are ever actually in here," she points out, and Harry frowns as she considers it.

Louis leans up to kiss Harry's jawline gently. "You've had a pretty long day babe, and we'll be focusing on Niall for a little bit anyway; I reckon we can wait until Thursday," she says, and Harry pouts, but nods anyway.

"Thank Merlin," Jade says, before burrowing her head back in her History textbook. Louis laughs and helps Harry out of bed, before pulling her green beanie over her newly-short hair.

"Also," Louis says, grinning wickedly at Jade. "I'm going to tell Felix that you said he was boring at sex."

Jade rolls her eyes, again. "I already beat you to it," she says, and Louis sighs.

"It's no fun making fun of you," she tells Jade, who smirks. "We're going down to dinner, want us to save you a seat?"

Jade shakes her head. "Leigh’s grabbing some food and bringing it here so we can study for the History test next week, but I'll see you in the Hufflepuff common room later, yeah?"

Louis nods her affirmation, and Harry blows a kiss to Jade as they leave. "I'm going to eat all of the pudding tonight," Harry declares, as they head down the stairs. Louis smiles softly at her, and links their hands together.

"Only if you eat your veggies first babe," she says, and Harry pouts. "No, none of that. I promised Madam Pomfrey I'd look after you, and if that includes forcing vegetables down your throat, then so be it."

Harry sighs, and squeezes Louis' hand. "What did I ever do to deserve someone as caring as you?"

(The first time they'd slept together was in their fifth year. They'd decided they were ready to take the next step after Liam, newly appointed prefect, had caught them practically dry humping in the Quidditch change rooms after the Slytherin v. Hufflepuff game, Louis high on the endorphins of winning, but hadn't had a proper chance since. Harry insisted she didn't care if they had sex on a table in the Great Hall for all she cared, but Louis wanted a bed, and some semblance of romance for their first time, but neither of them had managed to convince their dorm-mates to leave for long enough, much to Louis' dismay and Harry's ever increasing frustration.

It was on a Monday night, during lunch, and Louis and Harry had been hiding from Filch, up on the 7th floor, after Louis had let a dung-bomb loose in the Potions room- a complete accident, honest, she maintained, but Harry didn't believe her for a second- when a door appeared out of nowhere, and after hearing a meow, that Louis was certain came from Mrs. Norris, she dragged Harry inside. Louis looked around in wide-eyed wonder as Harry peaked through the door's keyhole, and watched as Filch and his cat walked right on past them, and when she’d turned around, Louis was grinning, and sitting down on the large bed in the middle of the room.

"Oh," Harry said, and her mouth fell open in surprise. Louis had smirked, and kicked her shoes off, as she crawled further up the mattress.

"I guess this solves the problem of sleeping in separate dormitories," she said, and Harry grinned as she caught up to where Louis already was; she kicked her own shoes off and launched herself on the bed.

“Are you sure about this?” Harry asked, as she reached over and gently placed her hand over Louis’ to prevent her from taking her shirt off. Louis rolled her eyes, but then sighed under Harry’s intense gaze.

“Harry,” she said, as she locked eyes with her girlfriend and clasped their hands together. “I love you more than anything, you know that right?” Harry nodded her head, and Louis smiled softly at her. “Then you also know that I want this, want you, in every way you’ll allow me, yeah?”

Harry chewed on her lip. “I love you too,” she said, voice soft. “I just want to make sure we’re ready. This is a big decision, after all.”

“If you want to wait, we’ll wait,” Louis said, and Harry frowned. “I want you to be comfortable and sure Haz, that’s the most important thing.”

Harry blushed a bright red. “I’m just- I’m not sure what to do, is all.”

Louis smiled, and her eyes crinkled. “I’ve had a really long talk with Pez, and Leigh-Anne. And I know Eleanor told you some stuff the other week, right?”

“I reckon we can figure this out together, yeah?” she said, and Harry nodded her head slowly. “We can do anything together,” Louis had continued, and Harry smiled.

“Of course we can,” she agreed. “I’m being stupid.”

Louis shook her head. “You’re being smart, Haz-Head. Like always.” She leaned forward and kissed Harry softly as she wiggled herself closer to Harry. The heat from Louis’ legs was scorching, but it just made Harry want Louis that much more. As the kiss deepened, Harry felt warmth pooling in her lower stomach, and a small moan escaped her lips when Louis’ fingers grazed her breast.

“Oh,” she said, surprised. “Do that again, please?” Louis smiled into the kiss, and her teeth caught on Harry’s lower lip, which drew another moan from Harry. Louis’ fingers glided underneath Harry’s shirt, and they danced along her side; when they finally, finally reached Harry’s chest, Louis slipped them underneath Harry’s bra, and gripped onto her nipple instantly. “Oh,” Harry moaned again, “Louis,” she continued, and Louis reached her hand around to unclip Harry’s bra.

“I want to see you,” she murmured, and after Harry nodded her head, Louis pulled her shirt off along with her bra.

“You’re very overdressed right now,” Harry said, as she blushed as Louis stared at her in wonder. A wicked grin spread across Louis’s face, and she whipped her own shirt off, which made Harry smiled happily. “Much better,” she said, as she pulled Louis down into another kiss. When Harry nibbled gently at Louis’ lower lip, Louis thrust her knee in between Harry’s legs in an involuntary action. “Oh my Merlin,” Harry groaned, and Louis blushed. “I- do that again, I think.”

“I was kind of hoping to use my fingers on you, actually,” Louis said, her cheeks a deep pink. Harry’s eyes hooded over, but she nodded, and Louis wiggled her hands under Harry’s skirt. She pushed her panties aside, and a broken gasp escaped from Harry’s lips when Louis touched her for the first time. Their eyes connected as Harry groaned, and Louis smiled softly. “I really love you,” she told Harry, who rolled her eyes, even as she smiled back.

“Yeah, me too, whatever, please finger me now,” she said, and Louis giggled. She let her finger trail down before she found Harry’s entrance, and she had slowly pushed a finger inside; she kept her eyes on Harry’s face the entire time, and after Harry groaned, and thrust her hips down on Louis’ hand, Louis slipped another finger inside, and used her thumb to reach upwards. She knew when she found Harry’s clitoris, because Harry’s head snapped back as Louis’ fingers were coated in a fresh wave of wetness.

“So that’s what an orgasm feels like,” Harry said, when she’d caught her breath. “Remind me to thank Leigh and Perrie later,” she continued, and Louis giggled and kissed her. “My turn now,” Harry said, as she pulled away from Louis, and flipped them over so she was hovering above her. “Do you think- could I use my mouth, maybe? I- Eleanor gave me more tips, for that, and I’ve always been told I had a nice mouth, so I-”

“Merlin,” Louis interrupted. “Of course babe, whatever you want.” Harry smiled at her, and kissed her again before she shuffled down Louis’ body; she kissed every inch of her skin she could reach, as she used her hands to pull Louis’ skirt and panties down. She breathed over Louis, who groaned instantly. “Oh, just keep doing that, it will probably be enough,” Louis said, and Harry smirked.

“I’ve got better plans,” she said, as she tucked her hair behind her ears, and ducked down. They both groaned when Harry’s tongue touched Louis’ for the first time, and Harry quickly wiggled around so she could slip a finger inside Louis as she used her mouth to latch over her clitoris. Louis groaned loudly, and reached down to tangle her hands in Harry’s head. Harry hummed against Louis, and used her tongue to lick around where her fingers thrust into Louis. She reached up with her other hand to gently roll one of Louis’ nipples in between her fingers, and Louis moaned her name.

“I love you,” she managed to say, even through her loud, breathy moans. Harry smiled against Louis, and moved her mouth up to suck gently on her clitoris as she fingered her; she quickened her pace when Louis’ hips came off the bed as she thrust to meet Harry’s fingers, and when Harry thrust particularly hard, and twisted one of Louis’ nipples at the same time, Louis orgasmed, her moan so loud that Harry worried that Eleanor and Jesy would hear it, all the way down in the Slytherin common room.

“Merlin,” Harry said, as she crawled back up Louis’ body and kissed her lips softly. Louis chuckled.

“Pretty sure that’s my line babe,” she returned, and Harry giggled. “Can we skip Transfiguration? I don’t want to get in trouble with McGonagall, but I don’t think I can stand right now, to be honest,” Louis said, and Harry yawned.

“Oh, definitely. I’m not about to go to class smelling like sex,” Harry responded, and Louis rolled her eyes.

“We’re witches, Harry, I reckon we could fix that easy enough,” Louis told her, and Harry giggled as her eyes fluttered shut.

“I’m rubbish at cleaning spells,” Harry mumbled, as she yawned again. Louis kissed her again, so utterly infatuated with this beautiful girl that she couldn’t help herself.

“I love you too, by the way,” Louis said, as Harry drifted off to sleep.)

*

Niall’s a mess by the time Harry and Louis sneak into the Hufflepuff common room, trailing behind Leigh-Anne. She’s curled up on a couch in front of the fire, Perrie spoon-feeding her some pudding while Zayn gently braids her hair.

“We brought chocolate,” Louis says, after they’ve settled down on the couch opposite Niall, squished in-between Eleanor, Sophia and Jesy. Sophia happily moves onto Eleanor’s lap to make room for Louis and Harry, and Harry smiles softly; watching Sophia and Eleanor fall in love slowly has been such a beautiful thing, and she makes a mental note to get the full story about how they finally got together from Eleanor later- it’s been a long time coming, and Harry’s pleased that her friends are happy together. Liam smiles gratefully from where she’s sitting on a cushion on the floor when Louis offers her the chocolate, and gleefully breaks off a large chunk, shoving it in her mouth instantly.

“Thanks, I missed dinner,” she mumbles through a mouthful of chocolate, blushing slightly as Sophia giggles at her; she always seems to have a red face around Sophia lately, and Harry wonders what that means, if anything.

“No problems,” Louis returns, before offering the rest around. Zayn and Jade decline, but Sophia and Eleanor take a piece each. Jesy and Leigh-Anne show Louis and Harry their own shared block of chocolate in response to Louis offering them some, and Perrie just holds up the bowl of pudding she’s sharing with Niall in response.

Her eyes look impossibly sad when she responds. “I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet, y’know? I mean- I’m an orphan, obviously, but it’s not really felt like it, since Greg’s always been around to look after me, you know? And. And now he’s not, and I’m all alone.”

Louis shakes her head firmly. “I know it might feel that way, babe, but you’re not alone, you’ve got all of us,” she says, and Niall smiles weakly at her.

“My mum’s already said you’re to come and stay with us, over Christmas hols,” Sophia says, reaching over and clasping Niall’s free hand between hers. “My sister loves you, you know, and my dad adores playing Quidditch with you; says you’re the only one of my friends that really offers him any competition.”

Louis scowls. “Oi, I resent that, Smith,” she says, and Sophia rolls her eyes as everyone giggles, even Niall.

“Things are never going to be the same again,” Niall says quietly, and Zayn’s fingers still in her hair. “I mean- obviously, with Greg d- being gone, but I mean, practically, and all. I- I don’t know what to do about our house, or bills or anything. Sprout said she’d help me, but- there’s only so much she can do, you know? I’ve still got to pack up everything, and-”

“You don’t have to worry about that right now,” Jade says, squirming over until she’s pressed up against Niall’s feet, chin resting on her knee. “And when it comes to that, we’ll help you. After all,” she pauses for a second, glancing around the room quickly for a head-count, “eleven sets of hands are better than just one.”

Niall smiles softly again, even if there are tears falling down her cheeks. “You lot are the best friends a girl could ask for, honestly. I don’t think we say it enough, but I love you all, truly.”

Harry feels tears pooling in her own eyes as she launches herself onto Niall’s lap. “We love you too,” she proclaims, and the rest of the girls quickly join in the group hug. Harry hears giggling around the common room, and thinks they must look like a right sight, eleven girls from four different houses engaged in the biggest group hug the world has ever seen, probably, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

*

(In fourth year, in Care of Magical Creatures, they’d studied unicorns, and Harry had just about wet her pants when Professor Kettleburn had led out a unicorn, white as snow, with its pure gold foal trailing behind it.

“Will the mother mind if I pat her baby?” She’d asked, and Kettleburn shrugged.

“I’d suggest letting the mother smell you first, and she’ll let you know if it’s okay,” he said, and Harry had nodded, hand held out towards the mother. The unicorn eyed her suspiciously, and then licked her hand happily.

Harry giggled loudly as she looked back over her shoulder at Louis. “She’s like a puppy,” she said, as she gestured Louis forward. Louis took a few steps until she was stood next to Harry, hand stretched outwards towards the unicorn, who sniffed her lazily and then lent down to munch on some grass. “She likes me best,” Harry proclaimed, and Louis smiled gently at her as Harry lent down to run her fingers through the foal’s pure gold mane.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Louis responded, and Harry beamed up at her.)

*

On Thursday night, Jade makes good on her promise and vacates Harry’s dorm room, dragging a grumbling Zayn along with her.

"I would quite like to eat you out, if you don't mind," Louis informs Harry, the second they’re alone. She pulls her school shirt and sweater over her head, smirking at Harry the entire time, and Harry feels warmth pool in her lower stomach as she nods, and wiggles out of her school skirt, accidentally ripping her tights with her nails as she pulls them off. By the time she's unbuttoned her shirt, and looks up, Louis’s completely naked, apart from her green and silver tie hanging loosely from her neck. Harry thinks that Louis is quite possibly the most beautiful thing in the castle, if not the whole world.

Harry makes a completely undignified sound with her mouth as she launches forward and kisses Louis, hard, her fingers tangling in Louis’ long hair. They crash down on one of the beds, Harry pushing Louis into the pillows as her fingers dance up Louis' sides, drawing a small moan from her. "Can I sit on your face?" Harry asks, and Louis groans loudly as she nods her head vicariously.

"Please, oh Merlin, please," she says, as Harry shimmies out of her skirt, only narrowly avoiding kicking Louis in the face. She leans down and kisses Louis again, her fingers rolling one of her nipples between them; when Louis moans loudly a second later Harry swallows it down. Louis grabs at Harry's thighs, pulling her closer to her, and Harry hovers above her face as her fingers grip the headboard of the bed so tight that her fingers turns white where the skin is stretched across her knuckles. Louis pushes apart her knickers, and licks at her gently, and Harry feels impossibly wet as Louis licks at her, her lips closing around her clit as she hums, and the vibrations cause Harry to groan loudly. Louis manages to wiggle herself around until one of her hands is helping to hold Harry up, gripping at her thigh in a way that causes Harry to feel a fresh gush of wetness soak her, and she uses her other hand to slowly finger Harry, as she pulls her mouth away and moves her head so her and Harry could lock eyes.

"I want you to ride my face babe, please," she requests, polite even three fingers deep in Harry, and Harry just about orgasms then and there, Louis is so hot, as she stares up at her, her entire face wet with Harry. Harry groans again as she nods eagerly, and Louis smirks at her as she ducks her head back underneath her, licking a long stripe up Louis' folds, while she thrusts two fingers inside her at the same time. The sensations prove to be too much for Harry, and she feels her orgasm wash over her, Louis fingering her through the after-shocks as she gently licks at her, cleaning away her wetness, which really only serves to turn Harry on all over again, but she’s not exactly complaining, so.

"What do you want from me?" Harry asks, when she’s caught her breath a moment later, as she slides down to kiss Louis. She can taste herself on Louis' tongue; and she groans when she realises this, licking into Louis' mouth further.

Louis thrusts her hips up into Harry's, seeking friction, and in response, Harry slides her fingers down Louis’ stomach, pausing only to pinch her nipple slightly, which draw’s a small moan from Louis, before Harry slips her hand in between Louis' thighs. "Merlin," Harry murmurs, as she stares at Louis in wonder, "you're dripping," she tells her, and Louis blushes slightly as her eyes hood over when Harry catches her clitoris in between her two fingers, rolling it slightly.

“I’m close,” Louis says, as she thrusts her hips up again. Harry slips two fingers inside her, as she used her thumb to continue to rub over her clit, and she kisses Louis heavily, while she lets her pinkie finger slide further down, slowly. Louis’ eyes widen when Harry’s finger graze her rim, and she lets out a half gurgled moan before she orgasms instantly, much to Harry’s amusement. Harry gently fingers Louis as she comes down from her orgasm, her post-orgasm trembles lasting much longer that Harry’s had.

“So, that’s a thing for you,” Harry comments, and Louis blushes again, her face and her chest a blotchy red.

Harry smirks at her. “I can get around that,” she says, and Louis smiles back, leaning forward as she kisses her girlfriend softly. “I love you,” Harry whispers into their kiss, and Louis pecks her once before they separate, and lays back down, Harry cocooning herself in Louis’ arms.

“Harry,” Louis says a moment later, looking around the dorm room.

Harry yawns, and looks up at Louis with sleepy eyes. “Yeah, babe?”

“You realise that this isn’t actually your bed, right?” Louis says, grinning as she reaches over and plucks a framed photo from the bedside table. Zayn and her three sisters are smiling and waving up at them, and Harry bursts into giggles.

“Oops,” she says, as Louis puts the photo back where it belongs. “Guess it’s a good thing Liam forced me to practice my cleaning spells, isn’t it?”

(It was in their third year when Liam noticed that Zayn never ate any of the meat served at meals. "I thought it was just bacon that Muslims couldn't have?" she asked, a frown on her face. Zayn shrugged in response.

"The meat here isn't Halal, I can't eat it," she explained, and Harry had watched as Liam chewed on her lip all night, shooting curious glances over at Zayn. She'd cornered Harry after Potions the next morning, a determined look on her face.

"You're Muggle-Born, right?" she'd asked, and Harry had shrugged.

"I mean- mum reckons my dad was probably a Wizard, but he left before Gemma or I showed any sign of magic, so he never actually told her. Why?"

"I looked in the library this morning, during breakfast, and I couldn't find anything much about Muslims. Do you know much about them?" Liam asked.

Harry bit her lip. "We learnt a bit at my Muggle primary school; about the holidays celebrated and whatnot. What do you need to know?" Liam blushed.

"I want to find out what Halal meat is and how to get it for Zayn," she explained, and Harry had to hide her smile when Liam's voiced softened at Zayn's name. She'd made a mental reminder to inform Louis of this newfound information immediately- Louis loved knowing who people were crushing on and she considered it her life's work to interfere in people's business as much as humanely possible. "I mean- she already can't have bacon, and that's bad enough right there, but she's missing out on ham sandwiches at lunch and sausages for breakfast, and that's just a tragedy. Not to mention the fact that she’s missing out on vital sources of protein," Liam continued, and Harry remembered Liam telling her that she'd asked for Ravenclaw, during her sorting, but the Hat had sent her to Gryffindor anyway. Harry though the Hat was probably a lot smarter than anybody ever gave it credit for.

"Liam," she began, after she realised she'd been staring in silence at her friend for a long moment. "You know bacon and ham are from the same animal, right? Zayn's beliefs don't allow her to eat pig, no matter what form it comes in."

Liam considered this, for a moment. "Are sausages from pigs?" she asked, and Harry frowned.

"I don't like to think of where sausages are from, to be honest," she told her, and Liam nodded like that made sense; to her, it probably did.

"Anyway, can you get your friend Niall, from Hufflepuff to skip lunch with us? I wanted to go talk to the elves about where the food all comes from, and Perrie told me that they like Niall a lot, so I figured that’d be my best shot,” Liam explained, and Harry shrugged.

“I can ask her, but getting her to skip any meal is usually a challenge,” Harry replied, and Liam frowned. “It’s alright, I’ll figure something out,” Harry assured her, and Liam smiled.

“Thanks Harry, you’re the best,” she told her, before she ran off to her next class. Harry smiled to herself and headed off to Charms, where she met Louis and Eleanor.

“You’re late,” Louis accused, when Harry slid into her seat in between them. Harry pulled her wand out of her bag and then shoved her bag under her chair before she turned to Louis.

“Liam had some questions about Zayn,” she explained in a low whisper, and Louis instantly perked up.

“I knew she was crushing on her!” Louis proclaimed, loudly. Eleanor giggled when Professor Flitwick hushed her, and Louis blushed as she sank down lower in her chair. “What did she want to know?” Louis asked, when the Professor’s attention was elsewhere.

“She wanted to know what Halal meat was,” Harry whispered back. “She asked me to talk Niall into skipping lunch to go to the kitchens to talk to the house elves to ask them where the meat came from; I reckon she wants to sort it so they get in Halal meat so Zayn doesn’t miss out on protein and all.”

Eleanor smiled. “That’s actually really sweet,” she said, and Louis pretended to gag. “No, really, like aside from Liam just wanting to impress Zayn a bit, she’s right. It’s not fair that Zayn misses out on meat just because they don’t cater to her religious beliefs. We should do something about it,” she said, and Harry sighed.

“I’ll distract Zayn at lunch, can you two grab Liam and Niall and go talk to the elves? They don’t like me much anyhow,” she said, and Louis grinned.

“And why’s that Hazza?” she asked, a cheeky smile on her face.

Harry blushed. “That’s none of your business,” she huffed, and Louis and Eleanor erupted into giggles. Professor Flitwick sighed loudly as he appeared in front of their table.

“Girls, this is becoming ridiculous,” he said, frowning at them all. Louis and Eleanor struggled to contain themselves and Harry smiled winningly back at the Professor.

“I’m trying to contain them,” Harry told him, as she gave the giggling girls next to her a disapproving frown. Professor Flitwick sighed.

“While I applaud your efforts Miss Styles, I highly doubt that anyone could ever contain the Trouble Twins here,” he said, and Louis and Eleanor beamed at him.

“Trouble Twins?” They echoed, pleased smiles on their faces. “I reckon we might have to keep that one,” Louis said, and Professor Flitwick sighed.

“Better than what Professor McGonagall called us last week, anyhow,” Eleanor chimed in. Harry sighed as she and Professor Flitwick looked at each other.

“Only four more years,” Harry told him, her voice comforting.

He grimaced at her. “That’s what I kept telling myself after the last lot of trouble makers Miss Styles,” he said, sighing. “But there will be more after you girls graduate, I’m sure of it.”

Harry felt that her grimace was identical to Professor Flitwick’s. “I’ll pray for you,” she told him, and he clapped a small hand on her shoulder.

“Make sure you do,” he said, and Eleanor and Louis dissolved into giggles again.

Later, after lunch, Liam caught Harry and Zayn as they were leaving the Great Hall. “We did it!” she announced, breathless from running.

“Well, Professor McGonagall found me, Niall and Louis trying to sneak into the kitchens and she was furious at us- well me, more so, but I reckon that’s because she’s given up on Louis, to be honest, and nobody can ever tell Niall, off, not with her stupid smile, so- anyway, Professor McGonagall was mad, until we explained why we were going in there, and then she was mostly mad at herself for not ever really thinking about it, and-”

“Liam!” Zayn interrupted, and Liam gulped down a deep breath. “Get to the point, would you?”

“Well, not just for you, really, I mean, I’m sure there’s more Muslim students here, or there will be, one day, and it’s not fair that anyone should have to miss out, because that’s like- racist, right? Is that the right word?” she asked Harry, who nodded.

“I could kiss you right now,” Zayn told Liam, a large smile on her face. Liam blushed an even deeper red and she took a slight step back from Zayn. “God, I’ve missed chicken so much, you wouldn’t believe it.” Zayn took a step forward and engulfed Liam in a hug, and Harry had to hide a giggle behind her hand as Liam sighed dreamily over Zayn’s shoulder. “Thank you so much,” Zayn said, after her and Liam pulled apart. “I’ve got to get to Divination, but this Sunday’s a Hogsmede weekend, I’ll buy you a Butterbeer, yeah? To say thanks, and all.”

She kissed Liam on the cheek and with a wave to Harry, disappeared up the stairs. Liam stared after her with honest to God hearts in her eyes, and Harry sighed. “C’mon, we’ve got Care of Magical Creatures,” she said, as she flung an arm around Liam, who sighed loudly.

“I love her,” she informed Harry, and Harry thought of Zayn staring at Perrie Edwards, from Gryffindor, across the Great Hall during every meal. She thought about Jesy, who swore up and down that Perrie stared back when she thought nobody was looking.

“I know you do,” Harry said, and Liam smiled at her.

“I think she asked me on a date, just then,” she said, and Harry bit her lip.

“Yeah, maybe,” she agreed. “Let’s just wait and see, yeah?” Liam nodded happily, and intertwined their fingers for the walk to their Care of Magical Creatures class.

“How’re you and Louis doing?” she asked, and Harry felt a smile spread across her face.

“Yeah, good,” she nodded. “It’s actually our three-month anniversary this Sunday, so we’re going to Madam Puddifoot’s for lunch during the Hogsmede visit.”

“Speaking of the devil,” Liam said when she spotted Louis and Perrie standing in front of Hagrid’s hut. Harry greeted Louis with a kiss on the cheek, and Perrie pretended to gag.

“Just because you’re sad and single,” Louis said, her tongue stuck out at her, and Perrie rolled her eyes.

“Being single doesn’t mean I’m automatically sad,” she said, and Harry fist-bumped her. “Though, I do have my eye on someone, and I’m pretty confident she likes me back, so we’ll have to wait and see about the ‘single’ part, won’t we?”

Louis grinned. “Oh, do tell us about this mystery woman,” she said, and Liam leaned in eagerly. Harry sensed trouble, and shoved her hand over Perrie’s mouth before she could say the name that would break Liam’s heart.

“You don’t want to jinx it,” she explained, when Perrie looked at her curiously.

“Alright, today we’re learning about Centaurs,” Professor Kettleburn said, when he had managed to gain most of the students’ attention; Harry was thankful for the interruption. “So first of all, I want you to pair up, and work out ten things you know about Centaurs, and two things you’d like to know, and then when you’re done, we’ll have a Centaur from our very own Forbidden Forest joining us to answer some questions,” he explained, and Louis and Harry wandered over to sit on a log as Louis started writing on some parchment she’d pulled from her bag.

“Why’d you stop Perrie from telling us who she was interested in?” Louis eventually asked, and Harry sighed.

“I have a feeling its Zayn,” she said, and Louis’ nose crinkled.

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked, and Harry frowned as she stared over at Liam and Perrie, huddled over their own parchment as Liam wrote frantically.

“Liam likes Zayn,” she reminded her, and Louis sighed. “And Liam reckons Zayn likes her too, because she promised to buy her a drink in Hogsmede Sunday, as a ‘thank you’ for sorting out the Halal meat situation, but-”

“I don’t know if we should do anything, you know? Like- I want them all to be happy, but I know that Zayn doesn’t like Liam that way, so.”

Louis chewed on her lip. “I think maybe we could just try to subtly discourage it,” she suggested. “And maybe we could try and set Liam up on a few dates, to take her mind off Zayn?”

“I guess that’s all we can do,” Harry sighed, and Louis squeezed her hand.

“I’ll also make sure to stock up on chocolate, for when the inevitable happens,” Louis added, and Harry grinned.)

*

On Sunday morning, Zayn’s owl delivers the Daily Prophet, and Harry and Jade huddle around her as she reads out Greg’s obituary.

“He was killed in a routine inspection of a suspected Death Eater’s house,” Zayn tells them, frowning. “His partner survived, but she’s in St. Mungo’s with extensive injuries, apparently.”

Harry chews on her lips as her eyes scan the Great Hall for Niall, not even bothering to look at Hufflepuff table; after a moment, she finds her sitting in between Louis and Eleanor at the Slytherin table. Jesy’s making silly faces as Eleanor spoon-feeds Niall some porridge, and Louis looks like she’s jabbering away a mile a minute, trying to keep the smile on Niall’s face.

Harry notices plenty of people staring at them; there’s a group of Hufflepuff third year boys whispering as they glare over at the Slytherin table, clearly angry with Niall for ‘defecting,’ as they keep accusing her, and there’s a few Slytherin seventh year girls staring at Niall with disgust. Harry feels saddened that even at Hogwarts, there’s this awful prejudice that’s already been sown into children’s minds before they even stepped foot in the castle; it breaks her heart that Louis, Eleanor and Jesy are constantly shunned by their own house for daring to spend time with people with Muggle blood.

“Do you think the war will ever end?” Harry says, interrupting whatever Jade and Zayn were discussing. Jade bites her lip, and looks at Harry with sad eyes. “I mean- I know something big will happen, one way or the other, eventually. But if we win, do you think all of this will just go away?”

Zayn sighs. “What exactly do you mean, Haz?”

“The differences between Pure-Blood’s and Muggle-Borns,” Harry clarifies. “And even the Houses.”

Jade raises an eyebrow. “The Houses?” she asks, and Harry nods, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“It’s kind of ridiculous, isn’t it? The idea of separating kids for seven years based on what they thought when they were only eleven? The idea that whatever House you’re in somehow defines you as a person for the rest of your life?” she says, and Zayn and Jade consider for a moment.

“I never thought of it that way,” Jade shrugs. “My whole family has been Ravenclaws for ages; I guess I always just expected I'd be put here, really.”

Harry nods her head. “That’s exactly my point- people go where they feel like they have to, right? Like Eleanor, for example; her entire family have come from Slytherin, and it was definitely not up for debate, which house she went to.”

Zayn frowns, considering. “I guess I never thought of it as like, a divide,” she says, thoughtfully. “Because our friendship group is so intertwined, right? But it is a divide, in a way. Apart from the girls, I rarely talk to anyone from other Houses.”

“Even when you’re out of Hogwarts,” Jade says, biting her lip. “I mean- my mum will see someone in Diagon Alley or something, with a Ravenclaw scarf and even if she’s never met them before, they’ll stop and talk like they’re best friends, because they’ve got this- this thing that connects them.”

Harry nods enthusiastically. “Exactly! People act like the Houses matter, and they do, kind of, but they don’t define a person, you know?”

“What’s brought this on?” Zayn asks, and Harry sighs.

“I want to change things, I think. I’d think I’d like to be a Professor, after we graduate,” she says quickly, and Zayn and Jade beam back at her.

“That’s amazing Hazza,” Zayn tells her, gripping her hand tightly.

“You’re be a brilliant teacher, babe,” Jade says, smiling. “You’re already so good with the second years that you tutor, and obviously the Professors here agree, since they made you a Prefect and all.”

Harry smiles back at her friends. “What subject do you think you’ll teach?” Zayn asks, and Harry shrugs.

“I mean, I guess it depends on if they have any openings. But I had a talk with Professor Flitwick last week, and he suggested that I get a part-time job somewhere, even in the Muggle world if I have to, and come back to tutor for a few years just to help get more experience and all,” she explains, and Zayn nods.

“Have you told Lou yet?” Jade asks, and Harry shakes her head.

“I’m a bit nervous, to be honest. She’s pretty set on moving to America for a few years, to help work on inter-country wizard relations, and I mean- I’ve been planning on going with her for a while now, but I just don’t think I can leave my mum, and Gemma at the moment, y’know?” she sighs sadly, and Jade cuddles into her while Zayn pets her hair. “I’m worried about what will happen to us if we have a long-distance relationship,” she tacks on, whispering the words like she’s scared of putting them out in the open, like saying them will make things real.

“You two can get through anything,” Jade says, straight away; Zayn nodding furiously from Harry’s other side.

“You’re absolutely perfect for each other, and a silly little thing like distance isn’t going to be able to change that,” Zayn adds, and Harry smiles softly at her friends.

“I guess I should tell her sooner, rather than later, right?” she asks, and Zayn nods her head.

“We can clear out of the dorm for a few hours; let you two have some alone time?” Jade offers, and Zayn sighs, like she’d rather not; Harry feels only a little bit guilty for constantly kicking her friends out of their own bedroom, but she also cares more about having orgasms, so she shoves the guilt aside.

“That might be nice,” Harry says, and Zayn sighs again.

“Just please use Jade’s bed this time,” she requests, and Harry giggles even as Jade protests.

Harry meets Louis after breakfast, and Louis wordlessly follows her to the Ravenclaw common room; it takes Harry three tries to open the door, and Louis grips her hand tightly when they head up the stairs to Harry’s dorm. Ainsley’s bed is empty, but Becka’s there, reading her Defence text book and sipping some tea.

She takes one look at Harry’s face and clears out of the room instantly, petting Harry on the head as she goes; Harry reminds herself to get Becka something nice for her birthday this year.

“You’re scaring me Haz,” Louis says, when Harry sits down on her bed and stares up at her girlfriend sadly. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to move to America with you,” Harry says quickly, like ripping a band-aid off. “I need to stay here, and be close to Gemma, and Mum, and on top of that, I want to be a Professor, one day, and Professor Flitwick thinks I ought to keep on tutoring kids for a few years, for experience, and all. And- and I can’t do that from a different country, and I’m so sorry Lou,” she says, clenching her eyes shut so she doesn’t have to see Louis’ face. There’s silence for a moment, and Harry feels the bed dip as Louis sits next to her.

“Are you willing to try having a long distance relationship?” Louis eventually asks, her voice smaller than Harry’s ever heard before. Harry’s eyes snap open, and she stares in shock at Louis.

“Of course,” she says, and Louis nods, and takes in a deep breath. “Louis, I’m not- I don’t want to break up with you, like, ever, if I can help it, and it’ll only be for a few years until you come back, right?” Louis nods again, and Harry slips her fingers in Louis’, squeezing her hand tightly. “Then of course I’m willing to try anything.”

“I’m gonna miss you,” Louis breathes out, a tear falling down her cheek. Harry reaches her hand up to wipe it away, and then kisses her lips softly. “I mean- we’ve lived in each other’s pockets for six years now, and in a year-”

“In a year, you’ll be in America with Zayn and Leigh-Anne, doing some really fantastic work that will help our entire world,” Harry interrupts. “And I’ll be here with our other friends, also doing some fantastic work, I hope, and there’s portkeys, and planes, and floo travel and all sorts of ways to still see each other, and we’ll talk so often that you’ll get sick of me, okay?”

Louis lets out a small, broken sounding laugh. “I could never get sick of you, Curly,” she says, and Harry kisses her again, because she can’t not, at this point.

“I’d like to marry you one day,” Harry tells her, and Louis smiles.

“Is that a proposal?” she asks, and Harry laughs.

“Not yet,” she replies. “One day though, definitely. But you deserve a wonderful proposal, involving like, flowers, and magic, and whatnot,” she says, and Louis beams at her.

“Being with you is the magic, Harry,” she says, and Harry kisses her so hard she forgets her name.

*

(During the holidays between fourth and fifth year, Louis and Harry spent a week with each girls’ family, starting at Harry’s; Gemma was ecstatic about finally having another Slytherin in the house, and Anne was worried that Louis, a Pure-Blood, would have a hard time hiding her magic from their Muggle neighbours.

“It’ll be fine, Mum,” Harry promised, as her mum rushed around moving furniture. Anne gave her an exasperated look, and Harry sighed. “Seriously, why do you have to rearrange the entire lounge room?”

Anne frowned, and moved the couch a bit further back from the television. “Because you and Gemma blow up the T.V. enough as it is, and I’m sure Louis being here will just make it worse.”

Harry sighed. “We haven’t blown up the T.V. in ages mum, that only happened before we went to Hogwarts, when we couldn’t control the magic.”

Anne smiled. “God, I still remember being so confused as to why you two couldn’t be near any sort of electronic device without it shorting out,” she said, and Harry giggled. “Anyway, since Louis is a Pure-Blood, she might affect things differently, according to Gemma’s Muggle Studies textbook,” Anne explained, and Harry rolled her eyes.

“Mum, the Muggle Studies textbooks are all written by Pure-Blooded Wizards who have no idea what they’re talking about; they only say that to explain why they’re all so hopeless with Muggle technology,” she explained, a frown on her face. “I still can’t believe she took Muggle studies even though she’s a Muggle-Born,” Harry complained, and Anne sighed. “Seriously, it was such a cop-out,” Harry continued, the old frustrations coming back to her.

“Well, I can’t believe that you’re still going on about that,” Gemma said, as she skipped into the room, her wand tucked behind her ear. Harry scowled at her.

“You’re such a cheat,” Harry told her sister, and Gemma smirked at her.

“Watch it, or else I’ll magically dye your hair green and you’ll be stuck like that until you go back to school,” Gemma threatened, and Anne sighed.

“Sweetie, you know my rules about magic in the house,” Anne reminded her, and Gemma frowned at her.

Anne reached out to pat her on the shoulder. “Not for another year, according to Muggle law. Which means I’m still your legal guardian, and as long as you’re under my roof, I don’t want you using magic at home; Lord knows something always manages to go wrong whenever you do.”

Gemma blushed. “I only broke two dishes last night,” she protested, and Harry giggled.

“And that’s two too many,” Anne countered, and Gemma frowned. “I mean it Gems, no magic, okay? And no embarrassing your sister while Louis is here.”

Gemma blew out a loud breath of hair, her hair fluttering away from her face. “You’re spoiling all my fun!” she huffed, as she stormed out of the room.

“She got turned down for another job; I think she’s just frustrated,” Anne said quietly, her eyes worried.

“She didn’t tell me,” Harry said, as she chewed on her lower lip. “What excuse did they give this time?”

“Her grades weren’t suitable enough,” Anne said, a small frown on her face. “And then she heard that the boy who ended up getting the job only received A’s for all of his classes.”

Harry let out an indignant sound. “But Gems got all E’s and O’s!” she retorted, and Anne sighed as she nodded. “I bet he was a Pure-Blood,” Harry muttered under her breath.

Anne nodded again, and reached over to squeeze Harry’s shoulder. “I’m still working on tracking down your father,” she said, as Harry leaned in to her embrace. “Maybe if we can prove that you’re both Half-Blood’s, things might get a bit better.”

“Don’t count on it,” Harry muttered darkly. “It’s just so unfair, y’know? I’m sick of people treating us different just because of our blood.”

Anne squeezed Harry tighter. “I know sweetie, but I also know that not everyone is like that; you have amazing friends, of all different backgrounds, and a wonderful girlfriend who loves you no matter what’s in your body.”

Harry smiled softly at the thought of Louis. “I’m so excited for you to finally meet her, like, properly and all,” she said, and Anne smiled back.

“She should be here soon, right?” she asked, and Harry looked at the watch on her wrist.

“Her mum will be flooing her here in about half an hour,” she agreed, and Anne grinned.

“That’s enough time for you to go and mow the lawn,” she said happily, and Harry groaned.

“I normally would object to Gemma using magic, but can’t she use it just this once for the lawn? I don’t want to be all gross and sweaty when Louis gets here,” Harry pleaded, and Anne scoffed.

“The last time I allowed Gemma to use magic to mow the lawn, she turned it purple, and it took me over six months to grow it back properly,” she reminded Harry, who sighed. “And anyway, if you hurry along, you’ll have time to shower before Louis gets here.”

“Yes, Mum,” Harry sighed, letting Anne kiss her cheek before she headed outside. Her mum was right, of course, and she was finished and showered by the time Louis arrived with her mum. Louis tumbled out of the fireplace, dusting soot off her shorts, and Harry leapt right into her arms, while their mums introduced themselves.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Louis whispered into Harry’s ear. Harry kissed her in response, and only pulled away when she heard a loud groan behind them.

“You’ve only been away from each other for three weeks!” Gemma argued. She shoved Harry out of her way and hugged Louis; Louis grinned as she hugged her back, even as Harry glowered at her older sister.

“Three weeks too long,” Louis said, as she pulled away from Gemma and turned to Anne. “It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Cox,” she said, extending a hand to Anne to shake. Harry and Gemma exchanged a look; Louis was never that polite, and it was quite disconcerting to see. Harry peeked over a Jay, who had an amused look on her face, and figured that she agreed with them.

Anne smiled at Louis, and ignored her hand, instead pulling her into a hug. “Call me Anne,” she instructed, and Louis nodded. “It’s wonderful to meet you too; Harry’s told me a lot about you.”

Louis blushed. “All good, I hope?”

“What’s good about you?” Gemma joked, and Harry elbowed her in the ribs.

“Absolutely nothing,” Louis’ mum answered, a grin on her face as Louis scowled at her. “I’m Jay,” she introduced, as she kissed Harry on the cheek. “It’s lovely to finally meet the girl my daughter won’t stop talking about all the time.”

Harry beamed at her. “I promise, none of what she said is true,” she said, and Jay laughed. “I’m Harry, obviously, and this is my sister, Gemma.”

Gemma smiled as she shook Jay’s hand. “It’s my fault these two met, and I’d like to apologise profusely for that,” she said, and Harry and Louis both frowned at her.

“Well, I’d like to thank you,” Jay laughed. “I’ve never seen Louis happier.”

Louis blushed again. “Don’t be gross, Mum,” she said, as Jay pulled her in a hug.

“Now, do you have everything you need?” Jay asked, and Louis nodded. “Your Muggle money, and your toothbrush?”

“Well if you’re adults, surely you won’t mind spending time with other adults, such as Anne, and Gemma,” Jay responded; Louis rolled her eyes, and Harry hid a grin as she realised where Louis’ wit came from. “Alright, I’d best be heading back home; I’ve left Lottie in charge, but I’m still bound to find something on fire by the time I get back,” Jay continued, and Harry giggled.

“I’ll see you in a week,” Louis said, cuddling her mum goodbye. “Make sure the twins stay out of my room.”

Jay huffed. “Yeah, because I can control them,” she said, and Louis laughed. “Love you darling, and be good. I’ll be back to pick you both up in a week.”

“See you in a week, Jay,” Anne said, as Jay stepped into the fireplace, waving goodbye as she disappeared into the fire.

Harry and Louis eyed each other, before Harry turned back to her mum. “Well, I’m going to go show Louis to my room,” she announced, and Gemma made a face at her as Anne laughed.

“Of course dear,” Anne responded, as Louis flung her larger bag over her shoulder, leaving the lighter one for Harry to pick up. “Remember the door rule,” Anne called to Harry and Louis, as they left the room. Harry sighed, and Louis tangled their fingers together.

“The door rule?” she asked, and Harry groaned.

“The door has to stay open when we have boyfriends or girlfriends over,” Harry said, and Louis laughed.

“Typical,” she said, smiling. “We finally get to share a room without roommates, and we have to keep the door open.”

Harry frowned. “Sorry,” she mumbled, as they headed up the stairs to Harry’s room. Louis frowned back.

“Hey, don’t be sorry. I’m not here just for the sex, I’m here for you,” she said, and Harry smiled softly. “Plus, I’m sure there’s still plenty of things we can get up to even with the door open,” Louis grinned wickedly, and Harry giggled.

Louis sighed. “No, but I share one wall with Lottie, and the other with Fizzy, and the twins are right across for me; we’d be lucky to spend even a minute alone before one of them was flinging the door open and they were all piling on my bed like puppies,” she explained, and Harry laughed.

“I’m looking forward to meeting them,” she replied, and Louis crinkled her nose.

“I can’t understand why; they’re all utter monsters,” she said, and Harry frowned at her. “No, seriously, I’m convinced their father was part Troll or something,” Louis insisted, and Harry laughed again. Louis placed her bag on the floor, and flopped down on Harry’s bed. “Your room is so- you,” she said, her eyes darting around the room as Harry snuggled up next to her.

“Zayn painted it,” she explained, gesturing to the large Ravenclaw emblem that covered one of the walls. “She spent a few nights here, during the summer after second year, and decided the walls were too plain; I woke up to this, and decided I liked it enough to not yell at her for painting my room without permission. Mum didn’t quite agree with me, but Zayn’s too nice for anyone to yell at, apparently.”

Louis laughed. “I really don’t get that,” she responded. “I mean, I’m just as pretty as Zayn, and even nicer, I reckon, and professors and parents have no trouble yelling at me.”

She looked seriously put out, and Harry hid a giggle behind her hand. “Maybe that’s because you aim to constantly aggravate professors and parents, while Zayn mostly stays out of trouble,” she replied, and Louis scowled.

“There’s no need to be rude,” she retorted, and Harry laughed loudly. “So, what are all these fun things you and your mum planned for me?”

“Well, we’re going to go up to London for a day, and just do normal sight-seeing stuff, like the Big Ben and Tower Bridge,” Harry started. “Possibly the Buckingham Palace if you think you can control yourself,” she added, smirking. Louis frowned.

“Is that the place where the Muggle men have to wear those weird black hat things?” Louis asked, curiosity evident in her voice. Harry giggled at her girlfriend.

“Yeah, and they have to keep a straight face and all, and Gems doesn’t reckon you can stop yourself from bothering them,” Harry said, and Louis sighed.

“My hero,” Harry remarked, her tone laced with sarcasm. “After that I thought we could just do some normal Muggle stuff, like go to the pictures, and the museum. Does that sound okay?”

Louis smiled as she leaned up to kiss her. “Anything sounds okay, as long as I’m with you,” she replied, and Harry smiled into the kiss.)

*

Anne shook her head, looking very disconcerted. “I don’t think I’ll ever get use to that,” she says, jumping out of the way, as Gemma tumbles on to the platform.

Harry rolls her eyes. “You’ve been doing this for nine years,” she replies, and Anne frowns at her.

“I prefer doors that just open,” Anne retorts. “Like normal.”

Gemma smiles, and takes one of Harry’s smaller bags from their mum. “This is our normal,” she says, and Anne sighs. “So, your final year,” Gemma says to Harry, as they walk along the platform. “You excited?”

Gemma hums in sympathy as she wraps an arm around Harry’s waist. “I know what you mean; leaving Hogwarts was one of the saddest moments of my life.”

Harry snorts. “You’re not really making me feel better, Gems.”

“Well, I would if you ever let me finish,” Gemma retorted, sticking her tongue out at Harry who rolls her eyes in response. “While leaving Hogwarts sucked, being out in the real world is amazing too. I learnt a lot at Hogwarts, but in the past three years, I think I’ve learnt even more. And since I reckon you’ve managed to learn a lot more than I did, considering you managed to get Head Girl and I didn’t, I also reckon you’ll be able to learn even more after you graduate. And also, since you’re a Styles, I know you’ll kick ass at whatever you do.”

Harry dropped her trunk and wrapped her arms around Gemma. “You’re the best sister I’ve got, did you know that?”

Gemma laughs loudly, and Anne smiles at her daughters when they separate. “I’m also the only sister you’ve got, but I’ll take that as a compliment anyway.”

“I take offence to that,” Niall, broomstick and trunk in hand, says. Her hair is lighter than Harry remembers, and her smile looks truer than it has since she found out about Greg.

Gemma rolls her eyes, even as a smile spreads across her face. “I’m her blood sister, that’s more important,” she argues, as Harry and Niall embrace.

“She knew it would come down to the two of you, though, and at least now she’ll have more time to focus on Quidditch,” Niall says, patting Harry’s shoulder in comfort.

“Where’s Soph?” Harry asks, and Niall rolls her eyes.

“Probably making out with Eleanor, I’d imagine. She dropped her trunk on my toe when she spotted her,” she replied, looking very put out as Harry and Gemma laugh. “Have you seen Lou yet?”

Harry shakes her head. “We only just got here ourselves,” she explains, and Niall hums, looking around; she’s too short to really see far, so after dropping her trunk and her broomstick into Gemma’s unwilling arms, Niall scrambles up on Harry’s back. Harry lets out a grunt as Niall knees her in her side. “Oi, watch it!” She snaps, and Niall beams down at her.

“I’ve spotted her,” Niall proclaims, climbing down off Harry’s back and pointing towards the platform entry. “She’s with her hundred and one sisters, plus Liam and her mum.”

Anne’s face lights up. “Oh, I’m so pleased; I’ve missed Jay!” she says, and after Gemma dumps Niall’s belongings back in her hands, they follow after Anne towards Louis and Liam.

Louis slams into Harry so hard that Harry’s trunk goes clattering to the ground; Harry only distantly notices, because she’s much more focused on her beautiful girlfriend wrapped in her arms. “I’ve missed you so much,” Harry whispers in her ear, and Louis beams up at her, standing on her tip-toes to kiss Harry.

“Missed you more,” she replies quietly, after they break apart. Harry notices Liam fake-vomiting behind Louis, and rolls her eyes at her.

“You’re just jealous,” Louis tells Liam, when she turns around; Liam rolls her eyes again, and then joins in their hug.

“I missed you two as well,” Liam says, smiling. “Though now that you’re here again, I can’t for the life of me remember why.”

Niall laughs loudly as she forces her way into the group hug, wrapping her arms around Louis, and hugging her tightly. “Can you believe this is our last year?” she says, beaming. Her eyes are bright, and Harry feels hope.

“Can you believe you started this disgusting love-fest without me?” Zayn says, and Harry laughs as Liam looks horrified.

Zayn laughs. “Long,” she replies. “I’m glad to be back here with you lot; even if you do start group hugs without me.”

Harry beams as Niall plants a sloppy kiss on Zayn’s head in apology. “We missed you too,” she says, and Louis smiles.

“This is gonna be the best year ever,” Louis proclaims, and Harry can’t help but agree.

*

(They had their first big fight towards the end of fifth year. Harry, as a new Ravenclaw prefect, had taken to spending a lot of her time with the Head Girl of that year, Nick Grimshaw, also from Ravenclaw. Louis had watched them for weeks, huddled together over prefect patrol schedules in the library, eating lunch together in the Great Hall, studying together by the lake, and her anger had just grown and grown, until one day, she exploded.

“She likes you Harry, honestly, how can you be that dim?” Louis shouted, in the change rooms, after the Slytherin v. Ravenclaw game had finished. She was covered in mud, and sweat, and normally, Harry would find this extremely attractive, but in that moment, she had a unusual urge to smack her girlfriend.

Harry’s face turned a dark red, and Jesy, obviously sensing trouble, cleared her throat from across the room. “Alright team, we’re gonna have to go back and shower in the dorms; this isn’t something we need to see.”

“It’s just getting good though,” a fourth year girl protested, but after matching glares from both Harry and Louis, she, and the rest of the team, evacuated.

“Great,” Louis huffed, as she threw her broom on the ground. “Now I’ll never get Quidditch Captain.”

Harry stared at her, incredulous. “How does that even make sense?”

Louis scowled. “They’re not going to respect me, not after seeing this.”

“God, would you just get over yourself?” Harry snapped. “Because first of all, it’s your Head of House that chooses Captain, and we all know that you’ve got Slughorn wrapped around your little finger. Second of all, I can’t believe you care more about your bloody team not respecting you, instead of your girlfriend.”

Louis scoffed. “Well maybe that’s because I already know that you clearly don’t respect me, considering how you were hanging all over Grimshaw during the game, instead of, oh, I don’t know, supporting me.”

Harry threw her hands in the air in frustration. “I cannot believe you right now Louis Tomlinson,” she yelled. “I am allowed to have friends, okay? You don’t get a say in who I hang out with! You do not get to dictate my entire life! I never say anything about you being friends with Eleanor, who was obviously crushing on you all of last year, or about Hannah, who you always flirt with in Herbology!”

Louis scowled. “Eleanor is our friend,” she huffed. “It’s an entirely different situation; I know you trust her.”

“Hannah is- wait a second, we don’t even have Herbology together, Harry, I’m with the Hufflepuffs for that, not Ravenclaw. How do you even know if I flirt with her?” Louis asked, and Harry blushed.

“Eleanor and Niall told me,” she said, sniffing. “Don’t try to change the subject Lou, that’s not the point. I’ve never said anything about Hannah or Eleanor because I trust you- it doesn’t matter if I trust them or not, because I trust you. And I thought you trusted me too.”

“I do trust you, but I don’t trust Grimshaw, and I’m not apologising for that. She likes you; she flirts with you all the time, and obviously wants to get rid of me so she can be your girlfriend,” Louis insisted.

“I can make my own decisions Louis; just because someone likes me doesn’t mean I have to like them back. I have never encouraged Nick flirting with me, and I have never once flirted with her. Whatever feelings she has for me are completely one-sided, and also, quite frankly, none of your business,” Harry retorted. “I cannot believe how possessive you’re acting right now Lou, honestly, this isn’t the 50s, and I’m not some thing you can own.”

“You’re my girlfriend, in case you forgot. I think I’m entitled to feel this way,” Louis said, and Harry’s eyebrows just about hit her hairline with how high she raised them.

“I am my own person first and foremost,” she said, her voice tight. “I may be your girlfriend, Louis, but I am capable of making my own choices and my own friends. You can think what you want in the privacy of your own head but you do not get to act like a possessive jerk, and you do not get to ask me to stop spending time with someone I’m friends with just because you can’t handle your jealousy.”

She whirled around and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her in an attempt to show Louis exactly how mad she was. She heard Louis call her name out but she kept walking, not in the mood to talk to her girlfriend anymore.)

*

Harry drops the newspaper into her bowl of porridge, and her eyes search for Louis across the Great Hall; she’s sitting with Eleanor, and Jesy, laughing. Jesy and Louis are making silly faces at each other and Eleanor’s scoffing and pretending she doesn’t know either of them.

“What’s wrong?” Jade asks, staring at Harry with worry. Zayn’s hand snaps out to grab the newspaper out of the bowl of porridge, and after quickly scanning the front page, her eyes meet Harry’s in matching horror.

“This is the Muggle school that Daisy, Phoebe and Fizzy go to, isn’t it?” She asks, quietly, and Harry nods slowly. Jade reads over Zayn’s shoulders and lets out a small gasp.

“It doesn’t say the names of the six kids killed,” Jade says, quietly, and Harry nods again. “Oh my god, we have to tell Louis.”

“No way,” Zayn protests. “It might not even be her sisters; we can’t get her all worked up about something that could turn out to be nothing.” Harry’s silent, staring at the porridge dripping off the newspaper. “Harry, you know we can’t, you know she’s got that important Transfiguration quiz today, you know if she fails it she’ll fail the class. We can’t worry her right now.”

“Six kids died, Zayn, that’s not nothing,” Jade counters. “Six kids were killed by Death Eaters at a Muggle school that only three magical kids go to. She has to know.”

“They can’t be dead,” Harry says, quietly. “No, no way. I just saw them two months ago, at start of term, they were-” she breaks off, her eyes welling with tears. “Oh my god, what if they’re really- what if it is them?” She’s working herself up into a panic attack, she can feel it, and she breathes in deeply; this is about Louis, and not her. “I have to stay strong,” she announces, and Zayn and Jade nod, both looking extremely worried.

“Look,” Jade says, standing up. “McGonagall just left the Hall a minute ago, I’ll go chase her up and find out if she knows anything. Lou has Transfiguration first period, so as long as she doesn’t see the paper ‘till then, she can focus on her quiz. We’ll talk to her when we know more, okay?” She leans across the table to kiss Harry on the cheek before she leaves, and Harry stares at Zayn, at an utter loss.

“It’ll be okay, Haz,” Zayn says, softly. “It’ll- Lou’s a survivor, she can make it through anything.”

Harry feels her eyes spill over. “She’s practically raised her sisters, Z. This is the one thing I don’t think she could ever recover from.”

Zayn sighs quietly. “Please drink some water,” she says, pushing a glass over towards Harry. “Try to breathe, babe, because things will be okay. You have to believe in that.”

(She walked around the grounds for a while, and ended up at Hagrid’s hut, down near the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

After Hagrid found her crying in his pumpkin patch, he invited her inside and made her some tea, offered her a piece of homemade cake- which upon seeing, she politely declined- and then listened to her vent.

“I don’ know much abou’ relationships,” he said, when she finally ran down. “But I do know that that girl loves you more than anythin’. I’ve seen yeh two together during your Care of Magical Creatures classes, an’ at dinner time; she looks at yeh the way some people look at the stars.”

Harry pondered this for a moment. “Why is she being so pig-headed then?” she asked, and Hagrid paused in his petting of his dog, Fang, to contemplate this.

“Love makes people do strange things sometimes,” he said, wisely. Harry finished her tea, petted Fang goodbye, and after kissing Hagrid on the cheek- bringing a blush to the skin hidden under his large, bushy beard- left to go find Louis.

After checking all the usual spots, Harry found Louis sulking in the kitchens. “You know,” she mused, startling Louis into spilling her tea all down her jumper. “Self-pity isn’t a nice colour on you.”

Louis snorted, though she looked appropriately abashed enough for Harry to sit down next to her, placing her hand on Louis’ knee. “I’m sorry,” Louis whispered, quietly.

“And for acting as though I owned you. For not trusting you enough. For not just talking to you about my feelings like a grown up,” Louis added, and Harry paused for a moment. “I really am sorry, H. I love you so much, and every day, I’m just- I’m honestly astounded that you’ve picked me. And I guess I’m just always terrified that you’ll change your mind. But none of that gives me an excuse to act the way I have been, so I’m sorry.”

Harry took in a deep breath. “I’m not going to stop being friends with Nick,” she started, and Louis sighed quietly, but nodded like she knew that was coming. “But I will, however, tell her that she needs to tone down the flirting. Nick’s my friend, but she’s also helping me with my Prefect stuff. I want to be Head Girl in our last year, Louis. I want it so bad. Nick’s gonna help me get that, and on top of all that, I just like her. As nothing more than a friend, but I do like her.”

Louis nodded her head. “I know that, H. I trust you.”

Harry smiled at her. “Okay then,” she said. “You’re forgiven.”

Louis smiled up at her, her eyes watery. “You’re the best,” she returned, and Harry smirked.

“I know,” she agreed, and Louis let out a small laugh before leaning in to kiss her.)

*

“Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, we just to borrow Miss Styles,” Harry whirls around to see Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn standing in the doorway of the Charms classroom.

“Of course, Minerva,” Flitwick replies, a concerned look on his face.

“Miss Styles, it’s probably best if you bring your bag,” Professor Slughorn adds, quieter than Harry’s ever seen him before. The rest of the class is silent now; they know what it means when a student is pulled out of class like this. Harry rolls up her parchment and places it gingerly in her bag, her hands trembling slightly. Zayn and Jade are staring at her with worry evident in their eyes, and Harry avoids looking at them as she tucks her wand behind her ear and walks slowly out of the classroom, as though prolonging the news will make it any less painful to hear.

When she shuts the door behind her, she faces the two Professors and braces herself. “The Tomlinson siblings are alive,” Professor McGonagall says, and Harry falls against the wall, clutching her hand to her chest.

“Oh my god,” she says, the tears flowing down her cheeks in relief. “Oh my god, I thought they were dead.”

Professor McGonagall looks grim, and Harry feels her heart stop again. “The twins, Daisy and Phoebe, are perfectly okay. Daisy was knocked out, but Phoebe managed to hide them both from the attacking Death Eaters.”

Harry’s knees feel weak. “And Fizzy?” she asks, and Slughorn coughs.

“Felicite’s teacher was a Squib,” Slughorn says. “She managed to get word to her twin, a Wizard that works in the Ministry. There Aurors arrived within minutes, but- Felicite was injured. She’s in St. Mungo’s now; I’m afraid we don’t know much else.”

Harry’s silent for a moment, absorbing all of this. Eventually, she asks the most important question. “Where’s Louis?”

“In Headmaster Dumbledore’s office,” McGonagall replies, and then pats Harry on the shoulder. “We’re arranging for her and Charlotte to floo to the hospital, where their mother is waiting. Louis asked for you.” Harry nods slowly, and then trails after the two Professors.

Louis is holding Lottie in her arms when Harry follows the Professors into Dumbledore’s office; she looks up at the sound and smiles tightly at Harry. “Oh, Lou,” Harry murmurs, falling to her knees and wrapping both her and Lottie into a hug. Lottie lets out a small sob, and Harry rubs her back, her fingers meeting Louis’.

“Alright ladies, now that Miss Styles is here, I best accompany you to the hospital; Miss Tomlinson, your mother will be waiting there, and she can contact me when she wishes you to return. Miss Styles, we’re sending word to your mother too, and hopefully she’ll try and meet you there as well,” Professor McGonagall claps her hands, and the three girls stand, Harry clasping Lottie’s small hand in hers, and Louis taking her other one. They stare at each other over Lottie’s blonde head, and Harry struggles to remember a time when either of them were that small, that young.

“It’ll be okay, Lots,” Harry whispers, brushing her lips on Lottie’s head. Lottie stares up at her, tears falling down her cheeks.

“I should have been there, to protect them,” she says quietly, and Harry shakes her head.

“Sweetie, you couldn’t have helped much,” she replies, and Lottie frowns. “You’re still only a kid yourself; you would have ended up hurt.”

“Haz is right,” Louis chimes in, as McGonagall hands out floo powder. “You’re doing what you can for them now, which is visiting them and cheering them up, okay?”

Lottie nods her head, and detangles her hand from Harry’s to wipe away her tears. “Okay,” she eventually agrees, before stepping into the floo with McGonagall. Harry and Louis clasp hands, and follow them.

*

(On Halloween, in third year, Perrie and Niall threw a party in the Gryffindor common room.

“You’re not even in Gryffindor,” Liam protested, frantically pulling down the streamers Perrie was hanging up. “You can’t throw an illegal party in here!”

“But she’ll have to stay for a little while; she was hit with a spell, and the nurses aren’t sure which one yet. Her skin is cold, and her heartrate has dropped dramatically. They’re keeping her warm with heating spells at the moment, and the Head Nurse said her heartrate has already improved since she was brought in, but they want to wait until she’s fine before they let her go,” Jay explains, softly and slowly. Harry leans into Professor McGonagall’s hand on her shoulder as Louis closes her eyes, and breathes in deeply.

“Can we see her?” Lottie asks, and Jay bites her lip.

“Not just yet, sweetheart. The Healers are running tests; why don’t we go see the twins?” She suggests, and Lottie nods, slipping her hand into her mums.

Harry beamed at Louis, who looks amused. “You’re just jealous,” Louis told Eleanor, who wrinkled her nose in response.

“Oh, please,” she said, before walking off.

“We are kind of gross,” Harry said, still beaming at Louis, who smiled back.

“Oh yeah,” she agreed. “The absolute grossest, but also, I won’t let her have the satisfaction of being right.”

“Fair enough,” Harry replied, linking their hands. “Did Zayn tell you I was coming as Columbia?”

Louis shook her head. “No; I figured Jesy lit it slip that I was coming as Magenta,” she responded.

“Nope,” Harry said, shaking her head. “Guess we really are soul-mates,” she proclaimed, and Louis smiled, leaning in to kiss her softly.

“Guess so,” she agreed.)

*

Jade and Zayn look relieved when Harry walks into their dorm the next morning. “We were so worried,” Jade says, quietly. Harry flops down on her bed, and they both cuddle in next to her.

“Professor Flitwick filled us in on what happened; is Fizzy okay?” Zayn asks.

Harry shrugs. “Her temperature is rising, again. It’s still a few degrees lower than normal, though. Her heart rate is almost normal as well, and the Healers have said that if it goes up a bit more overnight that she can go home tomorrow.”

Jade smiles at her. “Well that’s good,” she says, encouragingly.

“Jay’s pulling all three of them out of Muggle School,” Harry says, after a beat of silence. “She feels so guilty that six Muggle kids died. I mean- she’s so glad the girls are okay, of course, but-”

“But it’s not her fault!” Jade protests, looking horrified. “It’s the Death Eaters!”

Zayn’s face darkens. “It’s Voldemort’s,” she snaps, and Harry and Jade both gasp.

“Zayn-” Harry says, but Zayn interrupts her.

“That’s his name, Harry. It’s just a goddamn name, it doesn’t mean anything. We’re better than that, we’re smart enough to not be scared of a word,” she says, anger lacing her words.

Harry and Jade are silent. “How’s Louis?” Jade eventually asks, once she’s recovered from the shock of hearing the forbidden name.

“She stayed at the hospital,” Harry said. “She’ll come back later, for dinner, I think.” The girls both nod, and Harry sighs.

“I can’t believe this happened,” Jade mumbles. “I mean- we were preparing for Halloween, just two days ago, and now- I mean, I’ve never felt less like partying.”

“I know,” Harry says, miserably. “It’s our last Halloween at Hogwarts, though, we have to try and enjoy it. Before I left the hospital this morning, Lou told me to make sure that there was a lot of alcohol for Saturday.”

“Her parents found out about her and Sophia,” she explains, and Zayn frowns in indignation.

“They’re mad she’s dating a girl?”

Harry shakes her head. “They’re mad she’s dating a Muggle-Born. A Hufflepuff Muggle-Born, out of all things,” she says, disgusted.

Zayn’s face looks like thunder. “Did they kick her out?”

“Not yet,” Jade answers. “They think they can convince her to end it. But- Eleanor’s planning on moving in with Sophia and her parents after graduation.”

“Good,” Zayn responds. “She’ll be so much happier without those jerks in her life.”

“They’re still her parents, Z,” Harry says, quietly. “She still loves them; even if they have made bad choices.”

Zayn scoffs. “They aren’t kids, H. They’ve chosen this lifestyle time and time again. That makes them bad people not people who have made a bad decision.”

Harry’s silent, because she can’t really argue, but she also doesn’t necessarily agree. “What are you dressing as, for Halloween?” she asks, instead, and Zayn sighs, but starts describing her costume anyway.

*

(Harry was one of the first people in their Defence class to conjure up some wispy, white smoke. “Well done Miss Styles!” The Professor cried. “Just keep concentrating very hard on that memory, and loosen up your wand arm a bit- that’s better, like that, Miss Horan- and you’ll get there before you know it!”

Harry wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, and, picturing Louis’ face in her mind, cast the spell again. This time, a small cat burst out of her wand, but Harry was so shocked she dropped it, and the cat vanished instantly.

“You did it, H,” Niall called out, beaming at her. She was still waving her own wand around, and only producing dark grey wisps, but Harry thought that it was perfectly understandable after the year she’d had.

Harry picked her wand up from the ground, and uttered the incantation again; Louis’ face in the front of her mind. The cat appeared instantly this time, running around the room happily. It stopped in front of Louis, who was working hard to produce her own patronus- without much luck, at that point- and Louis looked up at Harry, grinning.

“Good job,” she called, and Harry beamed at her as the small cat wrapped itself around Louis’ ankle. Harry smiled back, and as their eyes connected, a large dog burst out of Louis’ wand, much to her utter shock. It disappeared after a short moment, but Louis beamed proudly anyways.

“Back at you,” Harry replied, smiling as Louis beamed at her.)

*

Harry bursts into tears before the words have even fully left Dumbledore’s mouth. Jade’s crying across the table, and Zayn’s utterly beaming next to her.

“It’s over, oh my god, it’s really over,” she says, pulling Harry into a hug. Harry squeezes her back, but her eyes are searching for Louis over Zayn’s shoulder; she’s at the Slytherin table, squished in the middle of Jesy and Eleanor, tears streaming down her face as she beams at Harry when they lock eyes.

“I love you,” she mouths at Harry; Harry beams at her, and blows a kiss in her direction, before turning back to Jade, who’s still crying, even though there’s a large smile on her face as well.

“Let’s gather all the girls,” Harry suggests, once she’s managed to recover enough to talk. “We need to celebrate.”

They head to the lake for a late lunch; Niall carrying a picnic basket full of food she had managed to con out of the house elves, and Liam and Jesy have blankets thrown over their shoulders. There’s a couple of first years playing near the tree they sit under, and they’re all laughing and happy.

“Feels like ages since I’ve seen a first year that happy,” Louis comments, and the girls all murmurs their agreement.

“It’s kind of bittersweet, isn’t it?” Eleanor says, from where she’s cuddled in Sophia’s arms, Liam watching them sadly from her place next to Zayn. “But not for them, really,” she continues, nodding her head in the direction of the two Gryffindor girls chasing each other around. “They’re young enough that this will almost end up just like a bad dream for them, wont it? But it’s real, for us.”

“I really looked up to Lily Potter,” Louis says sadly. “Her first week of being Head Girl, she caught me charming suits of armour to attack that prick Winston, from Gryffindor?” Harry wrinkles her nose at the mention of Ben, and the rest of the girls have identical frowns on their faces. “Well, Lily clearly thought the same, and despite her being Gryffindor and me being a third year Slytherin girl, the only thing she did was correct my wand-work; the spell worked perfectly, and as an added bonus, Winston ended up with a detention after Lily caught him with the armour, and concluded that he had been messing around with it.” Louis smiles sadly. “She was a true legend; definitely the stuff Gryffindor’s are meant to be made of,” she finishes, and Harry squeezes her hand.

She thinks of poor little Harry Potter, who’s now an orphan, who lost his entire family in one night. She thinks of Louis’ little sisters’ back home, who will now be able to attend their Muggle School again, who will now be able to play with other magical kids, without their mother worrying. She thinks of her own sister, who might be able to get proper jobs again, without having to prove her blood status, who won’t be sent off on dangerous missions for the Order that Dumbledore kept signing her up for, who won’t have to risk her life every time she leaves the house.

It’s an awful thing to think, but Harry wonders if two lives traded for hundreds of others is somehow a fair deal. She looks over at Niall, and thinks about how her parents had been lost in the war before she’d even came to Hogwarts, of how her brother was taken from her as well. She wonders if Niall would think the same, that losing her family so others didn’t was a fair trade. She doubts it, but she can’t deny that the ice block that used to be crushing her chest has melted considerably since the news of Voldemort’s death.

“I had a meeting with Professor Sprout, yesterday,” Niall says, after a few minutes of comfortable silence. She’s smiling, biting her lower lip to keep the grin from spreading across her face any further. “She said that as long as I keep up my grades and all, I’ll be able to get into the Auror training next year, after we graduate. She put me in touch with a few of her former students who are Aurors now, and they’ve all said that my chances are really good.”

“Wow, Niall, that’s amazing,” Leigh-Anne praises, leaning over to engulf her in a hug. Niall blushes slightly, but she’s still smiling proudly. As she should be, Harry thinks. It’s no easy feat managing to keep your grades up that high all while dealing with the loss of your family, not to mention still managing to captain the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

“I just feel like even though with You-Know-Who gone, I can still make a difference, you know? I mean, you all heard Dumbledore this morning; heaps of his supporters will be on the run now, and someone’s gotta catch them, right? Might as well be me,” she shrugs, and Louis flicks a grape at her just because- Niall manages to catch it in her mouth, causing everyone to laugh.

Liam smiles at Niall. “You’re honestly so brave Ni, I’m still not sure how you weren’t sorted into Gryffindor,” she says, and Niall rolls her eyes.

“Not me,” she argues. “I’m a Hufflepuff through and through- not afraid of toil, and loyal till the end, yada, yada, yada,” she says, smiling. “Plus,” she adds, with a wicked grin at Liam and Perrie. “I’m a lot smarter than Gryffindor’s should have any right to be.” Harry sighs loudly when Perrie and Liam instantly tackle Niall to the ground, dragging an unwilling Leigh-Anne with them.

“It’s hard to believe we’re seventh years,” Eleanor comments, rolling her eyes. Harry exchanges a look with Louis, and after Louis smirks back, they both pounce on Eleanor, knocking her and Sophia to the ground.

“Group hug,” Louis yells, and Sophia, laughing, reaches out to pull Jade down with them.

Zayn bites Harry in the arm when Harry drags her in the tangle of girls, Liam accidentally knees Louis in the stomach, Eleanor manages to pull some of Jesy’s hair out, and Niall gleefully snaps Louis’ glasses in half, but Harry loves her friends, truly.

*

(In fifth year, after Slytherin had won the final game against Hufflepuff, and consequently, the Quidditch Cup, Harry and Louis had remained on the Quidditch field, even after everyone else had left to celebrate- or mourn, in Niall’s case- down in the Slytherin common room.

“Come flying with me?” Louis had asked, and Harry eyed her broom with distrust, but Louis beamed at her, and she found that she couldn’t say no. She climbed on the broom, wrapping her arms tight around Louis’ waist, and Louis took off gently. “I love it up here,” she said, when they were hovering a considerable distance above the ground, and Harry opened her eyes to look below them; the castle looked even more beautiful, from high in the air. The sun was setting over the Forbidden Forest, casting shadows everywhere, and the sky was a beautiful burst of pinks and purples; Harry looked into Louis’ eyes, and felt sorry for the sky, for it never would be able to compete with Louis’ beauty.

Louis’ eyes crinkled as her smile grew. “Back at you, Styles,” she said, and Harry rolled her eyes, but leaned in to kiss her anyway. Harry placed her head on Louis’ shoulder when they pulled apart, and Louis flew them slowly in circles around the Quidditch pitch. “Did you hear that Liam likes Sophia?” Louis asked, at one point.

“Do you think Sophia could like her back?” Harry asked, and Louis shook her head in response.

“I’m pretty sure she likes Eleanor,” she answered, and Harry thought it over for a bit, before she sighed again.

“Eleanor likes her too, doesn’t she?” she said, and Louis bit her lip.

“I mean, I think so? She sure talks about her a lot, and they do spend an awful lot of time together,” she shrugged, and Harry frowned.

“Poor Liam,” she eventually said, and Louis nodded.

“She’ll find someone that likes her back, one day,” Louis said. “After all, not everyone can be as lucky as we are to find their soulmate at only eleven,” she teased, and Harry smiled softly at her.

“We should try setting her up with Aubrey, that fourth year Hufflepuff that Jade tutors,” Harry suggested, and Louis smiled at her.

“I’ll talk to Jade tomorrow,” she agreed. “Meanwhile, the Ravenclaw dorm will be awfully empty, what with all our friends in the Slytherin common room, celebrating,” she said slowly, and Harry smirked.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” she asked, and Louis laughed before she sped towards the ground; Harry squealed behind her as her arms tightened around Louis’ waist.)

*

Harry’s hands shake as she rolls her parchment open. Her eyes scan the crowd of students, and their family members, and she breathes in deeply, the cold air calming her instantly.

“It’s been a long seven years,” she begins, her smile growing as she catches her mum’s eye. “But in a way, it also feels like the time has just flown by. I still remember the first time I saw Hogwarts, coming across the lake in these little boats with two other girls that would later become some of my best friends.” Her eyes dart around the crowd until they land on Eleanor and Perrie, who smile back at her, Eleanor wiping a tear from her eye, like the emotional sap she is. Harry pauses, looking around the crowd, and rolls her parchment back up, abandoning her planned speech, and she stares at her friends as she talks from her heart.

“I was going to talk about all the amazing professors, and everything they’ve taught us, and how thankful I am to them for looking after us for all this time. And all of that is true, of course, but there’s more important things that I’ve learnt in the past seven years, things that didn’t come from a professor, or from a textbook.” Professor Flitwick, in the front row, catches Harry’s eye, and beams at her, gesturing for her to continue.

“I’ve learnt so much from the other students here; that we’re not defined by our Houses, or our blood, or our families. I’ve befriended Gryffindors that are smarter than I am, and I’ve known Hufflepuffs that are braver than anyone. I’ve shared a dorm room with some of the most loyal people I’ve ever met, and I’ve known Slytherins who would never say a bad word about anyone, who are the some of the kindest people I’ve had the privilege of knowing. I’m so glad that I’ve had the chance to spend the last seven years with these people, and I’m overjoyed knowing that they’re people who will be in my life forever. Hogwarts has given me so much more than just an education; it’s given me a family, and I’ll forever be grateful for that.” Harry steps back from the podium, beaming as the audience erupts into a loud burst of applause, led by a standing Louis, who’s cheering her head off.

Later, after Dumbledore has congratulated the graduating students one more time, Harry finds Louis and her family standing with Gemma and her mum.

“Oh sweetie, your speech was so wonderful,” Anne tells her, engulfing her in a tight hug that Gemma instantly wiggles her way into. “I’m so unbelievably proud of you right now,” Anne continues, kissing Harry on the cheek.

Harry rolls her eyes, but can’t seem to wipe the smile off her face. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Harry jokes, and Gemma laughs.

“I love you, H,” she eventually says, and Harry beams up at her. “Thanks for teaching me more than any little sister should have the right to.”

Harry lets out a watery laugh, and Anne squeezes them both. “My beautiful girls,” she says, letting out a small sob. Gemma and Harry roll their eyes at each other, and then Harry manages to untangle herself.

“You two can continue this sob-fest, but I’ve gotta go find my girlfriend,” Harry says, and Anne laughs, and waves her hands in a ‘shooing’ motion. Gemma, staring past Harry, raises an eyebrow.

“I think I found her, H,” she says, and Harry whirls around. Her mouth drops open in shock at the sight of Louis tangled on the ground underneath Perrie and Zayn.

“Ew,” Harry says, and Anne whacks her on the arm.

“Oh please,” Gemma scolds. “Like you and Louis aren’t as gross.”

Harry crinkles her nose. “We don’t snog while on top of one of our friends!” she protests, and Anne giggles.

“Since when are they an item?” Anne questions, and Harry shrugs in response.

“Since about three minutes ago,” Eleanor says, popping up behind Harry, hand in hand with Sophia, Niall trailing behind them. “Zayn was trying to tell Perrie that she looked nice in her graduation gown and she stuttered a total of fifteen times in thirty seconds- Soph counted- and so Perrie said ‘God, you’re such a dork,’ and then jumped her.”

“Oh, hush,” Anne says, before turning and engulfing Niall in a hug. Harry makes her escape while her mum is distracted, and after a bit of a struggle- including a kick in the head from Perrie- she manages to pull Louis out from underneath Perrie and Zayn.

“Oh Merlin,” Louis says, breathing hard. “You saved my life; I thought for sure I was going to be drowned in a pool of Zayn’s drool if I was stuck there any longer.”

Harry laughs, and after pulling some grass out of Louis’ hair, kisses her. “I love you,” she tells her. Louis smiles back at her, and wraps her arms around her neck.

“I’m so proud of you,” Louis replies. “Your speech was beautiful; even better than the one you planned. You’re gonna be an amazing teacher, H.”

Harry beams at her. “And you’re going to be amazing in America, and you’re gonna be responsible for finally bringing our countries together.”

“And then when I come back we’re gonna live happily ever after, yeah?” Louis says, tearing up slightly. Harry kisses her again, because she can.

“Yeah,” she agrees.

*

Harry opens the door to the Transfiguration room, peering in curiously; the note wasn’t written in any handwriting she recognised, and she wondered, too late, if it wasn’t a student playing a joke on her.

The room is lit up with floating lanterns, and as Harry steps inside, she notices that the floor is red; upon closer inspection, she realises that she’s standing on rose petals, and in the middle of the room, Louis is kneeling on them.

“Hi,” she says, beaming when Harry spots her. Harry stares back at her, shocked into silence. “So, I’m back from America early,” Louis tells her, and Harry nods her head.

“I can see that,” she says, and then promptly bursts into tears. Louis smiles fondly at her, and gestures for her to come closer.

“I’ve rented a small cottage, in Hogsmede,” Louis begins, when Harry’s standing in front of her. “So you can still teach here, but spend the nights and weekends with me. Perrie managed to get me a try-out for her Quidditch Team, and they’ve taken me on as the Seeker, so I’ll have to go out of the country sometimes, for games, but I’m hoping you’ll accompany me when you can.”

Harry stares at her girlfriend. “Did you break in here?” she eventually asks, and Louis sighs.

“Is that really all you have to say right now?” She replies, smiling. “McGonagall let me in, and Hagrid donated the rose petals,” she explains, and Harry nods in understanding. “Now, are you gonna answer my question?”

“Right,” she says, fumbling around in her pocket and pulling out a small, velvet covered box. “Okay, so. Harry Styles, you’re the love of my life, and I don’t want to spend any longer without you being mine- like, officially, and all. I planned a really long- and really romantic, and beautiful, if I do say so myself, which I do, of course- speech, but I don’t think I can get it all out without ending up a sobbing mess. Will you marry me?” She flicks the box open, and Harry’s so mesmerised by the glittering diamond ring that she finds herself speechless. After a few moments of silence, Louis seems to decide that Harry’s going to eventually agree to this, and slips the ring on Harry’s finger, before kissing her softly.

“I love you so much Louis, you’re the love of my life too,” Harry babbles, when they finally break apart.

Louis smiles up at her, her eyes filled with tears. “Is that a yes?”

Harry laughs, and kisses her fiancé again. “Yes, a thousand times yes.”

“Good,” Louis says, smiling at her. “Because this would have been very awkward if you’d said no.”

“I love you so much,” Harry tells her. She’s laughing, and crying, all at the same time, and there’s a diamond ring on her finger, and there’s a beautiful girl wrapped in her arms, and there’s a lifetime of happiness to look forward to.

“I love you more,” Louis says, and Harry kisses her in response.

*

(Jay Apparted them right into Louis’ living room, and before Harry had even had a moment to adjust to her surroundings- and politely inform Jay that she’d rather walk for twenty hours’ home, instead of ever doing that again- she was surrounded by smaller, and impossibly louder copies of her girlfriend.

“Louis!” One of the twins’ yells, engulfing her in a hug. The other twin wrapped her arms around Harry’s leg, and beamed up at her; she was missing a few teeth, and looked younger than Harry pictured, after all of Louis’ horror stories.

“We missed you!” The twin attached to Harry added.

Louis rolled her eyes, but Harry could see the pure delight lighting up her face. “It’s only been a week, Daze,” she replied, leaning over to kiss the twin attached to Harry on the cheek.

“Lottie and Fiz don’t make eggs for us,” Phoebe complained; there was a small sound of protest from the other side of the room, and Harry looked over to see Louis’ two other sisters standing there, looking mostly amused.

“You’re old enough to make your own eggs,” Fizzy replied, and Lottie nodded her small head along in agreement. Louis, however, looked scandalised.

“That just won’t do!” She proclaimed, and the twins it up, even as Jay sighed. “Alright H, our plans must be changed so we can fix this travesty right now,” she said, and Harry laughed.

“How about you three go and sort out the eggs, and I’ll stay far away from any kitchen you’re in charge of?” She suggested, and Lottie and Fizzy giggled.

“I wanna show Harry my room!” Fizzy agreed, and Louis sighed like the world was ending, but let the two younger girls lead her out of the room anyway.

“Wise choice,” Jay said, looking frazzled. “I better go supervise; she managed to make it snow in there, last time she made eggs.” She followed after them, leaving Harry alone with the giggling sisters.

“The twins don’t even like eggs,” Lottie reveals, like it’s a secret. “They just like watching Louis make messes and then get yelled at.”

Harry laughed. “I think everyone likes that,” she agreed. “But I see enough of that at school, so how about you guys show me your rooms?”

After a tour of the entire house, Fizzy and Lottie left Harry in Louis’ bedroom, and Louis appeared not much later. “Hi,” she said, wiping the flour from her face.

Harry frowned at her. “You don’t even need flour to make eggs,” she said, and Louis shrugged.

“You’re good with my sisters,” Louis said, after they cuddle up on Louis’ bed together. Harry smiled at her.

“They’re lovely,” she replied. “Hard to not be good with them.”

“Do you want kids, one day?” Louis asked, and after a beat of surprised silence, Harry nodded.

“I really, really do,” she replied. “How about you?”

Louis nodded as well, a small smile on her face. “It’s hard to imagine not having kids, after growing up the way I have. I’d like to have a whole little army, to be honest.”

Harry grinned. “Are there many babies up for adoption, in the Wizarding World?” she asked, and Louis shrugged.

“Not as many as Muggle babies, obviously. But yeah, there’s quite a few. Lots of Half-Blood babies, where the father was a rich Pure-Blood and the mother was a Muggle; those babies get put up for adoption, because they can’t leave the baby with a Muggle, and the Pure-Blood families so often refuse to claim a Half-Blood as their family member.”

Harry frowned. “That really sucks.”

Louis hummed in agreement. “Yeah, it does. But I mean, as gay ladies, adoption’s probably our best bet, isn’t it? So I guess in a way, that helps us out, a bit.”

Harry nodded. “Can you see yourself having.. raising a family, with me?”

Louis snuggled closer to her, smiling. “Harry, I can’t see myself having a family without you,” she replied, before she leant in to kiss her.)

*

The baby blinks up at Harry, blowing a spit bubble. Louis laughs, and reaches over with a tissue to clean his mouth.

“I’m tempted to just go an adopt another one right now, babe,” she says. “We’ll come back in a few years, when Andrew is a bit older, and we actually know what we’re doing.”

There’s a soft knock on the door, and Louis calls out a quiet come in, as baby Andrew blinks his eyes shut. Niall, Sophia, Eleanor, Jesy, Zayn, Liam, Perrie, and Leigh-Anne tumble in the room. “Like a thousand clowns falling out of a small car,” Harry murmurs, and Louis laughs.

“He’s beautiful,” Eleanor says, her eyes welling up instantly at the sight of the baby asleep in Harry’s arms.

“Absolutely gorgeous,” Liam adds, beaming at them.

“Just like his mums,” Niall finishes, and Harry feels her eyes tear up, just a little bit.

“How’s motherhood treating you?” Leigh-Anne asks, after they’ve all had a turn holding the baby; he sleeps through all of the swaps, much to Harry’s surprise.

“I mean, it’s only been about forty-five minutes that we’ve had him, but it’s going well so far,” Louis answers, and the girls all laugh. Louis raises her eyebrows at Harry as Sophia places Andrew back in Harry’s arms, and Harry nods. “We’d like to ask you all to be his god-mothers. Merlin knows that we don’t have enough male friends to scrounge up any god-fathers, and we’re planning on having at least four more of these little things-” Harry scoffs, and even Andrew lets out a small, indignant sounding snore- “so we figured that instead of like, assigning each of you to a child, you could kind of like, all just be the god-mothers to all of them.”

The girls are all crying by the time Louis is finished, even though Zayn and Eleanor are trying hard to pretend that they’re not, and Liam nods her head enthusiastically. “I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’d love to,” she says, and the rest of the girls’ nod in agreement.

“Then it’s settled,” Harry says, smiling down at her gorgeous son. Louis wraps an arm around her, and kisses Andrew on the forehead, and Harry feels complete, deep inside her bones, standing there with her best friends, with her mum, and sister, and extended family down in the hospital’s cafeteria, with her amazing wife next to her, and their son in her arms.

“I’ve been around magic for my whole life, but somehow, this is the most magical thing I’ve ever seen,” Louis says, when Andrew yawns and kicks his small leg in the air. Harry smiles at her small, but perfect family, and thinks that she can’t help but agree with her.

*

Notes:

i would truly love it if any of you could spare the time to watch this video, and then consider sharing it or donating to this cause. a little boy that i know was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease called progeria. this disease causes him to age at rapid rates, and children who suffer from this have a life expectancy of only 15 years. enzo is currently the only child with this disease in the entirety of australia, and he and his family would appreciate any awareness you could raise or any funds you can spare. if you're unable to financially help, please consider even sharing the video so maybe it will reach someone who is able to. again, thank you for reading.